


Coming Home

by hunters_retreat



Series: The Home Verse [2]
Category: CW Network RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Big Bang Challenge, IN SPACE!, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-25
Updated: 2012-05-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 14:25:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1107939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen Ackles may be the smartest man in the universe, but it took empath Jared Padalecki to help Jensen figure out what was important in life.  It’s not easy though and when Jared gets as assignment that will take him away from the space station they call home, Jensen doesn’t take it well.  When unexpected circumstances put the shuttle in danger, Jensen has to pull himself together because it will take more than his intelligence to get Jared back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Возвращение домой](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4022509) by [Маленькая сосна (Small_pine)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_pine/pseuds/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F%20%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%B0)



> This story was written for the 2012 bigbangbuffet challenge on live journal. It is a sequel to a short story I wrote (Home Is Where The Heart Is) though this stands alone. Special thank you to smidgeson for the quick beta on this. All mistakes are mine since she's awesome and I added scenes after she finished it. And another special thanks to deadflowers5 who was an amazing artist and was still willing to work with me on yet another project (how many is this now? 3? 4?) and who was extremely patient with me as I was finishing up school and trying to get this done before the deadlines (aka she had very little time with the draft to do the art and still managed to rock it!). Her art can be found here: http://deadflowers5.livejournal.com/119846.html#cutid1
> 
> Also, title ( and inspiration) from the song Major Tom.

Jared Padalecki woke from his nice peaceful sleep to the pulsing confusion and frustration of another person.  Jared knew what it was when he woke. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, nor would it be the last.  There were a lot of benefits to being an empath but this wasn’t one of them.

Except when it was. 

“Jensen?” he mumbled, trying to figure out why Jensen had suddenly ported into his room.  It didn’t happen often anymore.  Jared made sure Jensen slept most nights and it was only when Jensen was really tired that he accidently teleported himself to where he needed to be.

Jared reached out with his other ability, turning the light switch on with his telekinesis.  He’d rarely used the ability beyond training before he met Jensen but it was a nice little trick when he didn’t want to get out of bed to check on his wayward lover. 

“Jared?” Jensen asked as he blinked back at Jared.  He took a few minutes to realize where he was and Jared just waited for Jensen to catch up.  Jensen was the smartest man in the universe – the man could literally out think the computers on the space station where they lived – but he was always disoriented when it came to teleporting.  Jared thought it was because Jensen only did it when he was too tired to fight the instinct but Jensen only rarely practiced it otherwise.  His location was dead on when he ported but he hated to do it.  He preferred to travel by other means and the disorientation he felt afterwards – and that Jared felt through him – made Jared more lenient with his lover than he might otherwise be. 

When Jensen’s eyes finally turned back to Jared instead of surveying their bedroom Jared pulled the blankets down beside him in invitation.  Jensen began stripping his shirt off but Jared could see his lover’s head was elsewhere. 

“I didn’t think you’d be back tonight,” Jared confessed through a yawn as he settled in bed, watching Jensen.  He was too tired for anything more than the perusal but Jensen’s body was always something to be admired. 

When Jensen looked at him though, the green of his eyes danced with movement and Jared knew he was checking in with the experiments he was overseeing.   “I shouldn’t be,” Jensen confessed.  “I just … its right there.”

Jensen undid his pants and let them fall to the floor and Jared nodded though he didn’t know exactly what Jensen was talking about.  It was part of who they were; this need for Jared and Jensen to be close when things were too much.  Jensen was not only the smartest man in the universe, but the strongest technopath as well and his talents made him an extremely busy man on a scientific space station.  It also made him anti-social and when things felt out of control he was impossible to deal with.  At least, he had been until Jared came around.  When they met Jared had been amused by Jensen’s bluntness.  After a few incidents where Jensen had shown up around Jared with the same distorted confusion, Jared’s boss had pointed out that the strongest of the Gifted tended to ground themselves in other people.  When Jared had asked who Jensen had grounded himself in, Jeff had just laughed, the bastard.

They worked well though, Jensen and Jared, and in the two years since they’d met Jared never regretted letting Jensen into his life.  Jensen might be blunt and overly-focused on work at times, but when he turned that focus on Jared there was nothing else in the world for him. 

“You’ll find the answer,” Jared said softly, reaching for Jensen.  Jensen crawled into bed beside Jared and let his lover pull him in close.  Jared knew his lover’s head was still in the computers – he could feel the movement of it in his head when he tried to sense Jensen’s frustrations – but Jensen was curling himself up into the curves of Jared’s body. 

“I’m not tired.  I should be in the lab,” Jensen said, placing a soft kiss on Jared’s neck.  “Should be trying to figure out why Jenkins is falling out of the margins.”  Another kiss right behind his ear and Jared could feel Jensen’s hand begin to run down his side.  “But since I’m here.”

Jared laughed lightly at Jensen’s words and found he was wide awake suddenly.  When he pulled Jensen up for a proper kiss, his lover was smiling and Jared couldn’t regret the lack of sleep he’d have the next day.  There were worse ways to ground his gifted lover and Jared was more than happy to oblige. 

“Guess we can work it out while you’re here,” Jared offered.

Jensen bit his lower lip as he pushed Jared onto his back and moved to straddle him.  “Work something out anyway,” Jensen said with a grin as he leaned back in for Jared’s kiss.  “Rest of the team can wait until morning for their answer.”

When Jensen returned to the lab the next morning he had the answer.  When Jared went to work the next morning he had a distinct problem staying awake.  The people who knew them best knew there was a correlation but they were smart enough not to mention it. 

“The fences are back.  I can’t sleep with fences.  Every time I look out the window there are fences.  Fences are meant to keep things in.  Or out.  My brain does not need a stop gag.”

Alona Tal, the strongest hydrokinetic in the known universe, almost shot water out her nose and the man beside her didn’t even notice.

“The dogs don’t need a fence either,” her companion said as he dug his fork into his meal, completely absorbed in his conversation.  “They need a park.  Why doesn’t he build a park instead?  He could have a big dog park but with a bench on the side under a shade tree where we can watch them.”

“Jensen, you do remember that this is all in your head, right?”  

Jensen scowled at her.   “Potato, Po-ta-to.”

“Jared doesn’t really live in your head.”  Alona said with a grin.

“I’ll take the virtual reality in my head over anything you’ve got.”

Alona shook her head as she watched Jensen.  She didn’t understand the way Jensen saw the world and she certainly didn’t understand this virtual reality in his head.  Jared seemed to get it and even teased Jensen about it, sometimes making comments about things that happened in Jensen’s head that made no sense to anyone else but would have Jensen staring at Jared with wide eyed wonder.  It didn’t change the fact that Jensen could obsess over what he was seeing there and he dismissed other people’s dreams without batting an eye. 

“How does Jared put up with you?” she asked with a shake of her head.  She knew.  She loved Jensen and he was her closest friend on the station, but some days the man was more infuriating than she knew what to do with.  She really didn’t know how Jared could live with the man and not want to strangle him on a constant basis. 

“I blow him often.”

“Jensen!  I did not want to know that!”  Alona admonished, not surprised by Jensen’s bluntness but storing the words away until she could tell Jared.  The shade of red he would turn would be epic.

“I don’t mind hearing about it,” a voice from behind called out.    

Alona sighed as she watched Misha Collins sit down at the table with them.  “Misha, don’t encourage him.”   

Misha Collins was the administrator of the Vortex Space Station and one of the most respected men on the station.  He worked hard, always had time for the concerns of the community he oversaw, and he was a loving and caring husband.  For reasons no one understood, Misha had met Jensen Ackles in his initial interview to join the first group of scientists on the station and Misha had decided Jensen was the most interesting person he’d ever met.  Alona could think of a number of people she wouldn’t mind spending time with besides Jensen.  He was her best friend – stars help her if Jensen ever heard her say it – but the man could make the tides change course with his stubbornness and obtuseness when it came to social interactions and it was usually Alona who had to sooth the ruffled feathers of the science community when it happened. 

“Fine.  You can listen to him bitch about the dogs and fences and the swimming pool in the back yard of the house in his head,” Alona huffed.

“Ah,” Misha said with a knowing nod.  “Jared, again?”

Jensen’s eyes softened, the curve of his mouth turning up in small, fond smile at the mention of his lover’s name.  And right there was why Alona listened to it at all, because after eight years of working on the station with Jensen, Jared was the only one that seemed to sooth Jensen’s sharp edges. 

“Jeff wants to have dinner with you two sometime next week,” Alona mentioned to Jensen before Misha could take over the conversation and get Jensen to tangent on something like the amount of candy in the kitchen of his virtual home.  She didn’t need to hear another conversation about the pros and cons of whipping cream versus ice cream in Misha and Jensen’s sex life.  “Is there a night you don’t have to have your head buried in the computer to keep an eye on an experiment?”

Jensen’s eyes changed and the sharp jade that usually stared out at her began moving, like lines of light dancing over his retina.  Alona was convinced if someone just recorded the motion of his eyes they’d find out that Jensen’s brain really did translate everything into binary. 

“Tuesday,” Jensen said quietly.  It was almost too soft to hear; Jensen’s mind was in the computer bank somewhere and his attention wasn’t with them enough to know how quietly he was speaking.  She preferred the whisper to the times he would yell though.  “Jared is free too.”

Jensen looked at her then and Alona smiled.  “Good.  I’ll tell Jeff to work it out with Jared.”

“Any particular reason?” Jensen asked.

Alona looked at him for a moment then sighed.  “How can you be the smartest man in the universe and not know how to look at a freaking calendar?”

“I just used the calendar,” Jensen said with a frown.

“You do realize that your anniversary is coming up in two weeks, right?”  When Jensen just stared at her she sighed.  “Two years ago you and Jared finally figured it all out … happy couple … remember all that?”

Jensen blinked.  “No.  That’s not…  No.”

Alona huffed.  “Blow jobs aren’t enough for this shit, no matter how your lips look.”  Jensen’s eyes went wide in surprise, not at her language but at the tendril of anger that was real in her words.  He had no empathic abilities but eight years working hand in hand in the science lab had given him a little insight into her moods and Alona hoped it helped him realize she meant every word she said.  “Two years, Jensen.  Last year you were so caught up in Mather’s experiment that you forgot to have dinner with Jared.  He let it go because he loves you but I’m not so forgiving.  I really like Jared and Jeff thinks he hangs the damn moon when it comes to their patients so you better get your act together.  Heavens help me if you don’t do something nice for your boyfriend this year, I will make sure you never get another hot shower again.”

Jensen gasped, because everyone knew how much he loved a long hot shower, and Misha just tilted his head to the side slightly.  “Can you actually do that?” 

Alona stood up and turned on her heels to walk away.  She turned to look back at them, her smile sharp as she threw out, “Just try me.”

Jared stood on the observation platform and stared down into the maelstrom that was the largest science unit on Vortex.  Jared knew his way around and he could find the men and women he needed to see but in the two years he'd been on the station he'd still never been able to figure out the organization of the experiments, tables, and equipment.   He’d given up pretty quickly when he realized everything changed without warning whenever an experiment came to an end and space was gained/lost/moved/elevated to accommodate the ever changing science community.  Today though – as often happened when Jared came into the lab - Jared's eyes were at the center of that storm.  
  
Jensen Ackles; the man who ran the largest physics lab on the station and the man everyone wanted to get a minute with.  
  
Jensen was surrounded by a group of men in white lab coats.  They were talking fast, taking advantage of Jensen's undivided attention.  Jared could only see Jensen from the side but he smiled anyway, taking in his lover’s strong profile.  He and Jensen had been together almost as long as Jared had been on the space station.  They met the first night Jared had come aboard and it was only a few weeks before he was completely, hopelessly in love with the scientist.  
  
Jared had joined the vortex because of the importance of the work they did as well as the fact that it played into his own calling.  Jared was a psychologist who specialized in long term space placement.  The other endorsement that Vortex had that his other job offers hadn’t was the space station’s inclusive policies.  It still surprised Jared some days to witness the different number of Gifted that walked the station’s halls.  Jared had been intrigued by the station's inclusive policies towards typical humans and those with extraordinary abilities.  Most places segregated the Gifted population into different living quarters and social clubs but the administrator of the Vortex station refused to do so.  Misha Collins made sure that everyone got along and Jared counted himself lucky to have the man as a friend.  
  
The men around Jensen dispersed with a nod from Jensen and suddenly Jared was looking into the intensity of Jensen’s gaze.  He swallowed against the lump that formed in his throat from the sheer affection that Jensen felt when he recognized Jared from across the room.  
  
Alona and Jeff teased him about his relationship with Jensen and Jared took it all in stride.  Jensen wasn’t the easiest man to get to know, let alone to love, but they worked and no matter how rough Jensen’s personal skills were, nothing could take away the rush Jared got whenever he felt what Jensen felt for him.  
  
It was more than that tonight though.  As strong an empath as Jared was, Jensen had somehow found a way to use his own natural abilities to shield himself.  When Jared pushed too hard to feel what Jensen was doing he came up against a wall of motion that made him nauseous.  There was none of that tonight though and Jared knew Jensen was letting his guard down on purpose.  
  
Then Jensen was smiling up at him and Jared was defenseless against it.  He raised his hand in a pathetic wave that had to make him look like the lovesick sap that he was.  Jensen grinned larger and Jared took a deep breath, etching the moment in his head.  
  
“Stars, you two are sickening,” Alona said behind him.  He felt his face flush as he dropped Jensen’s gaze and turned to look at his friend.  She was smiling at him though and she wrapped an arm around his waist.  “You here to take him off my hands for the night?” she asked.  
  
He kissed the top of her head and answered into her hair.  “Yeah.  Figured you had enough to do tonight without having Jensen to shoo out of the lab at closing time.”  
  
“Like he’d leave if I tried.  I still don’t know how you manage to get him out of here.”  
  
Jared laughed because she was still teasing him about Jensen’s blow job comment two weeks before.  “I let him blow me a lot.”  
  
Somehow, when Jared said it in her ear like that it made her blush and it was always nice to get one up on Alona.  Jensen was far too free about their personal lives with her and she got to hear all of Jensen’s oddities over the course of the work day.   It used to bother Jared that Jensen would talk to her like that, but over time Jared came to realize it was the best thing that could happen to them.  Alona wasn’t above telling Jensen off for his lack of social grace and she told Jared the little things Jensen commented on that Jared would never have heard any other way.  Like how Jensen had been afraid Jared would say no if he asked him to move in with him and how Jared asking him had meant something to Jensen.  
  
“I hate you, Jared.  I don’t know how Jeff deals with you.”  
  
“Hey!” Jensen walked up the steps to the observation platform where Alona and Jared were talking.  “Go get your own psychologist to torment.”  
  
“Fine, I will.”  Alona said as she disentangled herself from Jared’s side.  “He still at the office?” she asked Jared for confirmation of her husband’s whereabouts.  
  
“He seemed to think he was going to be working late tonight,” Jared confirmed.  He loved Alona to pieces and her husband had the same easy going attitude that she did, though Jared would admit in his own head that Alona was far scarier than his boss.  “You’ll take care of that right?”  
  
Alona smiled but she didn’t say anything else as she walked away.  
  
“You ready to get out of here?” Jensen asked Jared as he stepped closer.  He brushed his lips lightly over Jared’s, surprising him with the public show of affection.  It wasn’t a secret that Jared and Jensen were together, but Jensen wasn’t always aware that other people might want to hold hands in public or to share a kiss that wasn’t meant to lead to anything more.  
  
Jared grinned as he looked down into his lover’s eyes.  “Yeah, let’s go home.”

  


As they walked back from the science lab, Jensen decided they needed to stop for dinner.  He pulled Jared into a new restaurant, something nice and more upscale than they normally went to.  Jared let Jensen spoil him though, even though he knew Jensen didn’t remember that it was their anniversary. Two years ago they’d finally stopped dancing around the bond that had obviously grown between them and admitted to their growing attraction.  It didn’t bother Jared that Jensen didn’t remember that sort of thing.  Alona was Jensen’s best friend and it bothered her to no end though.  How she managed to put up with him over the years was beyond Jared.  She was Jensen’s greatest supporter, the one who cared for him when Jared couldn’t, and was the hardest on Jensen when it came to his shortcomings in his social interactions; especially his relationship with Jared.  Jared understood how Jensen felt about him though so a missed anniversary didn’t matter to him.  Not when Jensen was so damn good at expressing his affection for Jared in other ways.

Tonight was a perfect example as Jensen led them to a quiet corner in the back of the restaurant.  Jared picked a bottle of wine for them to share and they settled into an easy meal together.  Jensen took extra care to ask about Jared’s day and his work.  It was one of the social niceties that Jensen wasn’t very good at.  He loved Jared without doubt, but Jared had been frustrated more than once with Jensen’s inability to realize that some nights Jared needed Jensen to ask him about his work too.

It was common among the Gifted, with the exception of empaths and telepaths, to get too caught up in their own work that they forgot people around them had different wants and needs than they did.  It was why most places segregated the population.  Relationships between two Gifted people were more successful than mixed relationships simply because the talented tended to understand one another better.  Jared had seen it in harsher light though and he’d had to deal with anti-talent hatred a few times.  It was one of the reasons Jared had taken the job on Vortex.  A fully integrated community was an experiment he wanted to see firsthand, and a blessing if it truly ran as well as everyone swore it had.  And it did.

Dinner was delicious and Jensen was perfectly attentive.  He told Jared stories about the other people in the lab but steered clear of any talk about their experiments.  Jared listened to Jensen’s stories and shared his own and they laughed together. 

They didn’t get the chance to do this often anymore.  Jared’s schedule was full and Jensen was buried in the science lab late into most evenings.  Jensen had plenty of his own experiments in the works, but as the head of the lab and the unit of scientists Jensen needed all the hours of the day to complete his work.  Quite often, Jared had to go down to the lab and drag him home.  Jensen used to stay in the labs for days on end, only going home to sleep a few hours every few nights and that was all his body needed.  When Jared had come into Jensen’s life though, he’d demanded that Jensen spend time with him every night.  It put a damper on Jensen’s productivity a little, but he normally returned to the lab with a renewed vigor – and improved attitude – so no one commented. 

It had also lowered the number of times that Jensen randomly ported himself into Jared’s room without notice.  Those nights, though scarce now, generally ended with no sleep but with Jensen wrapped around Jared in the dying light of the morning and Jared loved that it was his touch that comforted Jensen.

Tonight though there seemed to be no hurry as they ordered desert together and finished off a second bottle of wine.   On the way home they walked leisurely through the park and to Jared’s surprise, Jensen held his hand the entire time.    

When they got home, Jensen took his time stripping Jared of his clothes, leaving them in a trail from the living room into the bedroom.  He lavished Jared with attention, covering every inch of Jared’s body with his fingers before he followed the path with his lips.  When he pushed Jared back onto the bed Jensen followed, kissing him for so long Jared began to think they were just going to make out all night.  He was fine with that, really because when Jensen devoted himself to something it was amazing, but then Jensen slid down his body, licking and biting his way down Jared’s torso. 

“Keep this up long, Jensen, and I’m not going to last,” Jared breathed as Jensen licked at the base of his cock. 

“Better make it short and sweet then,” Jensen said as he swallowed Jared’s cock down his throat.  Jared bucked into the heat of his lover’s mouth and Jensen just took it, looking up at Jared with eyes that screamed mischief.  Jared clawed at the sheets but before he could warn that he was close, Jensen pulled off.  He climbed out of bed and slowly stripped his clothes off.  All Jared could think about was getting his hands on Jensen but his lover was taking his time.  Jared swallowed back the lust that wanted him to get out of bed and take Jensen up against the wall; instead, watching as Jensen dropped his pants to the floor, leaving him completely naked.

“Remember the first time, Jared?” Jensen asked slowly, crawling up Jared’s legs until he could kneel over Jared. 

“You going to ride me again, Jensen?” he asked, breathlessly.  Two years ago, when they’d made love for the first time, Jared had woken to find Jensen cooking them breakfast.  He hadn’t know how Jensen had gotten into his room or when he had, but when confronted Jared had learned that Jensen had slipped into his bed to sleep.  They were both past denying the bond that had developed between them then.  Jeff and Alona had stayed on the two of them, making sure they understood that Jensen had reached out to Jared on some level to help ground himself against the powers that ruled him and that Jared had accepted that bond.  The confrontation had ended with Jared on his back and Jensen - slicked open by his own hand in Jared’s shower while he’d slept - riding him.

Jensen smiled and it went all the way to his eyes, lines appearing at the side of each and Jared could stare into those eyes forever.  “Just like the first time,” he said, taking Jared’s cock in hand as he began sliding down it.

Jared tried to say something coherent, but Jensen was already opened up and the image of Jensen fucking himself open to get ready for Jared made all the blood rush to his dick instead of his brain.  Jensen gave a satisfied moan as he settled down against Jared’s hips.  “Love you, Jared,” he said softly, leaning forward to brush a kiss across Jared’s lips.  He brought his hands to rest beside Jared’s head and then he started to move, pulling away from Jared’s body ever so slightly before pushing back onto his lover’s cock. 

“Stars, Jensen, the things you do to me,” Jared breathed against Jensen’s lips as he wrapped his hand around the back of Jensen’s neck and pulled him in. 

Jensen licked his lips and Jared joined him, licking across the seam until Jensen opened to him.  It didn’t take long, with Jensen kissing him breathless and writhing on his lap, before Jared felt the buildup of pressure.  He reached between them and began stroking Jensen’s cock but as he did so he let down the personal shields that he kept up for everyone else.  He opened his mind to Jensen and he felt the overwhelming love and compassion Jensen had for him, felt his own emotions rebounding back on himself and as Jensen tipped over the edge and into orgasm, Jared slid with him until there was no thought that wasn’t about the pure sensation between the two of them.

When Jared was finally able to breathe again, he looked at Jensen and found his lover smiling down on him.  He kissed Jared before climbing off of him and then he was cleaning him up.  When he settled back into bed beside Jared, Jensen nuzzled up against Jared’s neck, his arm slung across Jared’s chest.  Jared closed him eyes, letting one hand slowly caress up and down Jensen’s back while his other hand cradled the back of his head, playing lightly with his hair. 

“Did you think I forgot?” Jensen asked as he pressed a kiss into the spot behind Jared’s ear.

“Forgot what?” Jared asked.  He wasn’t entirely on the top of his game at that moment.  It had been a long day, starting early with appointments and he was never able to think clearly after making love to Jensen. 

Jensen chuckled softly against Jared’s skin before he sat up on one elbow and looked at his lover.  “I do have a calendar.”

Jared looked up at him and smiled softly as he realized what Jensen was saying.  “Yes, I know you have a calendar.”

“And I know how to use it,” Jensen said, the corners of his lips turning up into a smile.

“I would assume so, considering the fact that you are the smartest man in the universe and that you can access any computer on the station without having to get out of bed.”

Jensen leaned in and gave Jared a soft kiss.  “Happy anniversary, Jared.”

Jared pulled him down on top of him and couldn’t help but laugh with Jensen.  He brought their lips together, kissing him playfully and when Jensen finally leaned back they were both grinning like idiots.  And the smile right there?  That was why Jared put up with all the social ineptitude and the missed anniversaries that Jensen would never remember.  Alona could complain about the things that Jensen lacked in social skills but there was nothing that could ever mean more to Jared than the smile on Jensen’s lips and the look in his eyes.

Jared brought his hand up to cup Jensen’s cheek and smiled.  “Happy anniversary, Baby.”  


 

“What do you mean you have to go?”

Jared stared at Jensen and couldn’t help but get turned on by the look in his lovers eyes.  He shouldn’t be attracted to the man when he was being an ass but there was something in Jensen’s eyes that always did that to Jared.  Still he couldn’t give into that right now, no matter that he hoped to make this into a makeup session in a few minutes. 

“You know Jensen, I get that you have scientists clamoring all over you to work on their experiments because you’re the best.  I understand how important you are to them, the scientific community, and to this station.  But you aren’t the only person that does important work here.”

Jensen took a step back like he’d been stung.  “I never said what you do isn’t important.  But why the hell do you have to be the one to go?”

Jared took a deep breath and tried to remind himself of the many reasons why he was so damn crazy about Jensen.  The problem was that Jensen was busy reminding him that it wasn’t for his people skills.

“Jensen, this is what I do.  My specialty is helping patients who work long term in space to detect and prevent space dementia.  It’s why I was hired here in the first place.”

“I fucking suffer from long term exposure.  Why do you have to leave?”

“Because it’s my fucking job.  I know you don’t understand it.  No, forget it.” Jared wanted nothing more than to find a way to stop himself, but he could feel the anger radiating off of Jensen and it was burying the fear he’d felt there.  The anger was rebounding in Jared’s head though and no one had even been able to get Jared worked up the way Jensen could.  “I know you understand it but you’re being too selfish to look past your own needs.  This is important to the station and to me as well.  I know this doesn’t fit into your routine.  I know that you need me Jensen, I do.”  Jared’s voice softened slightly as he looked at his distressed lover.  “I need you in my life too.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t have work that I have to do.  You can live without me for the three months it will take me to complete this mission.”

Jensen crossed his arms over his chest and stared coldly back at Jared.   Jared hadn’t seen that look since the first night they’d met, when Jensen had assumed Jared was some wet under the ears talent-phobic asshole.  It hurt Jared to see that look in his eyes but he couldn’t back away from this argument.  Jared had a job to do.  It was his work and his passion to help people who worked in alternate climates to find a way to deal with and acclimate to their surroundings.  It was his job to work with people in space programs and help ground them when they were in the blackness of space too long, to help them overcome their growing fears or to pull them back from the carelessness that sometimes came with exposure to the vast emptiness.  It was his job and Jared was damn good at it. 

The mission that he was being asked to undertake involved a five week journey on a shuttle to their furthest outpost.  The people aboard the outpost had to be removed because of an asteroid that was coming into their sector of space.  The trajectory and composition of the asteroid showed that there was a possibility that the asteroid might fall apart too close to the planet’s atmosphere.  If it did, the outpost wouldn’t likely survive the dust clouds and storms that would follow. 

Jared’s job was to assess the shuttle crew in case there were any problems he could foresee and prevent.  He was then supposed to help them relocate the outpost scientists.  He had the five week journey back to the station to see if the outpost personnel were suffering any trauma as well.  Vortex would monitor the asteroid’s course until they could give the outpost crew the all clear and then they would be able to return.  In that time, Jared was also supposed to ensure a healthy transition to station life for those being left behind, to give a clean bill of health to those returning to the outpost and the integration of new people going with them, plus give an exit screening for those that were leaving the station and outposts all together. 

It was a part of Jared’s job that he loved and beyond that, his services were necessary to these people and he couldn’t turn that down.  He knew that Jeff was a capable psychologist and would do well if he had to go, but this was Jared’s area of expertise. 

What it came down to in the end was that Jensen didn’t know how to be alone anymore.  When Jared met him Jensen was used to being alone, to being by himself and only having a vague connection with other people in the station.  He had Alona who took care of him and who kept an eye on him.  She and Jeff made sure that Jensen getting enough to eat and enough sleep and that any conflicts in the science community were taken care of as quickly as possible.  And Jensen had Misha, the station’s administrator who liked to come in and check up on him.  Misha was a little odd in and of himself and his friendship with Jensen seemed to be based entirely on Misha’s amusement at Jensen’s social ineptitude. He took Jensen’s bluntness in stride.  He was a great administrator and Jared admired Misha greatly for the work he had done there, even if he did think Misha’s indulgence of Jensen’s harsher side was a little off. 

At the moment though, Jared was more than willing to send Jensen packing off to Misha, or Jeff, or Alona, or anyone who wanted to take care of him.  The coldness in Jensen’s eye and the selfish way he was taking Jared’s departure was in complete contrast with the way they’d spent the last week.  Jared knew that on some level Jensen was making up for the first anniversary that Jensen had missed so he was treating Jared to a week-long celebration this year.  This argument wasn’t that far off base for them though.  Jared often got frustrated with Jensen’s inability to recognize that other people’s needs had to come first sometimes.  As Alona had told Jared once, Jensen had the social skills of a gnat and he was proving her right today. 

His arms still crossed over his chest, Jensen pushed past Jared and walked out of the bedroom and into the living room.  Jared caught up with him in the doorway and watched Jensen as he paused just inside the outer door. 

“Where the hell are you going?” Jared demanded. 

Jensen turned back to look at him.  “Well apparently I’m not needed here, so I should get back to my work.  Like you said, it’s what we’re here for.”

He went through the door then and Jared knew it was no good chasing after him.  They both needed time to cool down before they could go at this again, before Jared would be able to find a better way of talking to Jensen about the mission.  And he needed to give Jensen time to remember that Jared’s work was just as important as Jensen’s was.

He had to do something to keep busy though or he knew his feet would find their way to the science lab to where his wayward lover would be holding court again.  Instead, Jared found his pack and began folding the clothes he knew he would need for the journey.  He had two days before he had to go, plenty of time to make up with Jensen.  He had a long three month journey without his lover and he hoped to settle things tonight so that he could spend his last two nights in Jensen’s arms.     

 

 

It wasn’t that Jensen didn’t know he was being selfish.  He was quite aware of the way he came across, but what people didn’t realize was that he couldn’t always stop it before it happened.  Sometimes he got too caught up in the world in his head that he forgot that not everything happened that way in real life.  Jared had laughed at him once when Jensen talked about the little house and the white picket fence and the two dogs in the back yard that didn’t get along well with his cats, because they all belonged in Jensen’s head.  The dog and cat eventually found a truce and Jared had laughed about that as well.  Jared didn’t understand the way Jensen’s brain worked.  He tried, and the heavens knew if anybody understood Jensen it was Jared, but in the end when things threw Jensen out of his comfort zone he retreated back into that world.  In that world, there was no room for missions to other places.  There was no room for other people who needed his lover the way Jensen did. In that world there was no room for Jared to leave because he understood that Jensen couldn’t lose him, that as much as Jensen had lived his entire life by himself, he could never survive without Jared by his side.

Jensen knew that was what had driven him to say the things he had to Jared, but he couldn’t take them back.  He couldn’t make Jared understand that without him he couldn’t breathe.  Jensen didn’t know if he could survive the three months without Jared.  Hell, he didn’t even know if he could sleep anymore without Jared by his side.  He was terrified that the time apart would confirm what he already feared; he would never be able to live without Jared.

His heart was heavy but Jensen took comfort in the numbers, in the experiments, and in the warm buzz of motion that were the computer banks in his head.  He stayed in the labs all night waiting for Jared to come get him but he never did. 

Unlike most people, Jensen didn’t feel the passage of time.  He didn’t get tired or sleepy after a few hours of work so he didn’t notice when it became morning and the rest of the scientists wandered in.  He didn’t know it was lunch until Alona came to him with a tray of food for lunch and asked why he’d stayed in the lab all night.  She didn’t mention Jared but he knew the set of her eyes and she was judging him for not being with his lover.  He snapped at her and it was only after she walked away that he realized that she wasn’t judging him, but he had needed the excuse to snap because Jared was leaving on the mission and not her husband.  It was a shitty way to treat a friend and she deserved better.  He didn’t know how to make it up to her though and he was still too hurt to admit why he snapped.  He was feeling jealous and childish and so he buried his head in his work which was the only other comfort he had besides Jared’s arms.

He noticed when the rest of the scientists left and he knew that it must be evening but he couldn’t bring himself to walk away without Jared. He looked through the computer banks and found the itinerary for Jared’s mission as well as the importance of the work Jared was doing and that of the outpost he was going to be travelling to.  It wasn’t new information but Jensen refreshed himself on the experiments they were doing.  The shuttle was slated to leave first thing in the morning and Jensen was still alone in the lab. He didn’t know how to go home.  He didn’t know how to breach the distance between them.  Jared had never left him to stew this long before.

He looked over Jared’s calendar and realized Jared had been in meetings all day regarding the mission and then he’d been closeted with Jeff for the remainder of the day to discuss the patients Jeff would have to see over the next three months.  He knew then why Jared hadn’t come to see him yet and he knew it wasn’t because he was too mad to see Jensen but that he had run out of time. 

Looking across the empty lab, Jensen knew this wasn’t where he needed to be.  He needed to be home with Jared, even if all he could do was kiss him goodnight, tuck him in, and hold him tight for the night.  It was the last thing he would have for three months.  The empty lab would have him after that and it could wait.

Jensen still hadn’t mastered his ability to port so he preferred not to try it tonight.  He still had trouble thinking of it as a talent.  Transporting himself someplace had always happened when he needed it so he’d never explored the ability.   Jared had pushed him a little bit but Jensen didn’t trust himself to do it as upset as he still was.  Instead he walked back to their quarters. 

He walked in quietly but was surprised to find the lights in the living room and kitchen already turned off.  When he peeked into the bedroom he found Jared’s bag on the floor at the foot of the bed, already packed.  The side lamp beside the bed was lit and Jared had fallen asleep rereading his diagnostic manual.  Jensen knew Jared could quote the book back and forth but his lover was just doing his best to stay up to date on newer treatments and diagnostic measures.  The screen of the electronic book lit Jared’s face in a pale light and Jensen reached over to turn it off before putting the book in Jared’s pack.  He pulled Jared down on the bed and covered him up, knowing he would get a crick in his neck if Jensen didn’t help him out.

He thought about sliding in next to his lover but he wasn’t tired and without Jared awake to feel it, slipping into bed beside Jared wasn’t the same thing.  Instead, Jensen sat on the bed next to him and watched his lover sleep.   

 

 

Jared woke the next morning feeling more exhausted than when he’d fallen asleep. He knew Jensen must have been there to pull the covers up over him but he woke alone and the bed beside him was cold.  Jensen obviously hadn’t stayed with him and it bothered Jared that he would come and go like that without staying.  He knew it was stupid to think that Jensen would understand that Jared needed to make up from their fight before he left.  Jensen didn’t think in the same terms that Jared – or anyone else he’d ever met – did.  Jensen was a technopath and technopaths tended to think in terms of logic rather than emotion.  It didn’t mean Jensen didn’t feel emotion but he wasn’t ruled by them, certainly not the way empaths like Jared were. 

He got up and took his time in the shower, knowing that the shuttle wouldn’t have the same amenities that the space station had.  When he got out he could smell fresh brewed coffee.  He followed the smell in to the kitchen and found Jensen there with an array of bags full of breakfast foods.  Jensen looked up sheepishly as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t.  Jared was still too upset to smile, but he felt his anger lessening as he witnessed his lover’s thoughtfulness.

“I thought you might like something to eat,” Jensen said as he started to pull food out of the bags. 

It was from a little café that Jared and Jensen liked to go to.  Alona had introduced them to the place a year before and Jensen and Jared both swore by the coffee there.  Jensen kept pulling food out and Jared realized that Jensen had picked a wide array of Jared’s favorites.  When he was done, Jensen took his coffee and sat down, drinking in silence.  Jared didn’t know what to say or how to reach across the divide between them so he grabbed his own mug of coffee and began gathering a plate.  Jensen didn’t eat, but he generally didn’t eat breakfast anyway so Jared didn’t think anything of his lover just watching him. 

He continued eating and got annoyed when he looked up at Jensen and saw the way his lover’s eyes danced with motion.  He and Alona used to tease that if someone recorded the movement they’d learn Jensen’s brain worked in binary but now the motion wasn’t a joke.  Instead of spending his last morning with Jared, Jensen was attached to the computers, working. 

Jared pushed the plate of food away and stood up quickly.  Jensen looked up in surprise. 

“You don’t like it?”

Jared glared at him.  “I’m not really hungry.  I need to get going.”  He didn’t say anything else as he stormed out of the kitchen and grabbed his bag in the other room.  He double checked to make sure everything he needed was packed and then headed back into the living room where Jensen was waiting.

“Jared-“

Jared stopped Jensen before he could say anything more.  “Look, Jensen, I know you don’t want me to go but this is what I have to do.”  He walked out before Jensen could say anything else.  

He made good speed getting to the other side of the station where the shuttle was docked. Everyone else was waiting there too, including Misha, Jeff, and Alona.

“Where’s Jensen?” Alona asked. She didn’t wait for an answer before pulling him into a hug.  “We’re going to miss you so fucking much.  You come back safe, you hear me?  I can’t deal with his shit on my own forever.”

He wanted to smile for her but he didn’t have it in him.  When she stepped back and looked up at him, she looked around again.  “Where is Jensen?”

Jared just rolled his eyes.  “He’s working.”  She didn’t say anything else but looked back at Jeff.  Jared chose to ignore the look that passed between husband and wife.

Misha stepped up, wishing him luck and promising to take care of Jensen while he was gone.  Jared felt slightly better even though he shouldn’t be worried about Jensen.  Two years of being in love with the idiot didn’t go away just because they’d been in a fight though.  He just hoped that over the next three months Jensen realized how hurtful his words had been.

When Jeff came up, Misha and Alona stepped away and Jeff was the one that walked him the rest of the way down the hall to where the shuttle crew was waiting. 

“Take care of yourself, Jared,” Jeff said with a warm voice.

Jeff was a strange combination of big brother and father figure and Jared appreciated the concern in his voice.  Jeff knew Jensen and they both considered the other a friend, but their friendship was more a matter of circumstance than choice.  Jeff and Jared worked together though and they’d developed a strong friendship.  Jeff was the one who helped Jared realize he and Jensen had bonded, that it was more than just Jensen’s oddities that brought them together.  Jeff was the one who had realized that Jensen had needed grounding and that Jensen had reached out unconsciously and grounded himself in Jared.

“Don’t you worry about anything that’s going on here.  You take care of yourself and we’ll take care of this.  You just keep your head where it needs to be and know we’ll all be waiting for you when you get back,” Jeff said as they stopped in front of the terminal.  “All of us.”

Jared appreciated the note of confidence in Jeff’s voice and he hugged him tight, feeling Jeff return it.  They were as much family as friends now and Jared knew he’d missed Jeff’s everyday smiles and the witty comments he made about the patients they saw. 

When Jared walked into the terminal he didn’t look back. He could feel a pull and he knew if he looked back to the end of the walkway Jensen would be standing there with Jeff and the others.  Jared couldn’t stop now though.  They were boarding the shuttle and he didn’t have time to deal with Jensen and his neediness.  Instead, he squared his shoulders, held his head high, and gave his best smile to Able, Cohan, Cortese, Kelly, Pellegrino, Lehne, and Captain Pileggi; the crew he’d  be spending the next three months with.  They didn’t know him well enough to realize that the smile didn’t go all the way to his eyes but it was the best he could do.  He knew in a couple of days he wouldn’t have to fake it so hard.  In time he’d be able to put this argument behind him, to forgive Jensen, because he knew it wasn’t a lack of love on Jensen’s part.   Neither was it that Jensen didn’t understand the importance of Jared’s work.  Jensen’s insecurities that made him lash out the way he did and it was Jensen’s inability to deal with his strong emotions that led him to that.  Jared could forgive Jensen just about anything, given enough time and space, and he was about to have plenty of both.

 

 

“Jensen, there’s a message for you,” Alona spoke softly, afraid to break Jensen’s concentration away from his work too suddenly.  Normally, she couldn’t force his mind elsewhere but Jensen had been waiting for a week to hear back from his lover and his attention wasn’t the same with Jared gone.

As soon as the shuttle had taken off, Jensen had thrown himself back into the science lab and into his office which he never used.  It took Alona an hour to realize Jensen was composing a message to Jared and another to realize as much as he was saying, he still hadn’t recorded a damn thing.  Whatever he had finally recorded though, he had his answer now.

She knew Jared and Jensen fought right before Jared’s flight left but she’d never known Jared to leave Jensen hanging like that.  Jared understood Jensen’s peculiarities and Alona thought he understood the very delicate balance Jensen had with his emotions.  He didn’t take well to change and Jensen had come to depend on Jared for his own stability and grounding.  Alona knew better than most what that sort of grounding meant.  She had been on the verge of losing her position on the station until she’d grounded herself in Jeff.  It wasn’t always easy but Jeff helped her keep her sanity.  She didn’t know what she’d do if he was forced to take a three month mission away from her.  And she was one of the most highly integrated of the Gifted.  She had no idea how Jared could miss what his departure was going to do to Jensen. 

She didn’t blame Jared for fighting with Jensen – heavens knew she’d never be able to put up with Jensen on that level – but it wasn’t the fight that was the problem.  It was the fact that Jared left things unsettled between them.  Now with the message in hand, Alona was worried.  She didn’t know what Jensen sent or how Jared would respond.  She hoped Jared had enough time to understand what his absence was doing to Jensen and she hoped Jensen had been smart enough to let Jared know.  He might be the smartest man in the universe, but when it came to being human Jensen was as dumb as a sack of bricks. 

Jensen still hadn’t responded to her comment, so instead of trying Alona took the message and loaded the message into the computer banks with a flag for his attention.  It wouldn’t take long for Jensen, connected to the computer as he was, to notice something flagged specifically for him. 

She wasn’t surprised when a few minutes later she looked up from her console and found Jensen staring back up at her.  He didn’t seem happy to have a message from Jared, but he was probably worried about how Jared would respond.  Of all the things she knew about Jensen, his insecurities when it came to Jared was something she’d never really understood.  Jared obviously loved Jensen and doted on him whenever possible.  He took Jensen’s lack of social skills in stride and had made more progress helping Jensen get along with others than anyone she’d seen in all their years working together.  She loved Jensen like a brother and she couldn’t deny that it made her feel good that Jensen had Jared now, but that didn’t mean she could forgive Jensen for being such an ass when he was and she wasn’t above telling him either. 

Now, she wasn’t sure which one of them she wanted to drown first.  When Jensen just continued to stare at her, eyes blank, not even the motion of the computers in his retina, she pointed at his office where he could listen to the message without being watched.  He shook his head and to her surprise, disappeared before her eyes.  A quick check on the computer told her that someone had just entered Jensen’s quarters so she knew he must have ported directly there.  She didn’t call to check up on him but made a mental note to make sure that Jensen was back to work by lunch or she’d go check up on him. 

 

 

Jared didn’t know what he expected.  He knew the communication between the station and the shuttle would take a while; even with the relays in place it wasn’t instantaneous.  Jensen’s message had taken a few days to reach them enough though Jensen had sent it a few hours after their departure.  He spent the next couple days deciding what to send back to his lover before finally sending it.  At that point in space the message took a week to get back to Jensen.  While Jared hadn’t expected a reply back for a week and a half after that, it had been two and a half weeks and there was still no reply.  Jensen made his opinion about Jared’s mission clear while Jared was still on the station.  He’d also made it plain that when Jared was going to leave anyway, Jensen was going back to his work and it wouldn’t surprise Jared to know that Jensen had gone back to his other ways as well.  Jensen had never had a long term relationship before Jared had come along and considering Jensen’s background, that wasn’t surprising either.

Jensen was a protégé and at a young age his family had sent him away to the most exclusive schools in the universe, finding the best tutors who could supplement his natural talents.  By the age of five, Jensen wasn’t living with his family anymore.  From what Jared knew Jensen hadn’t seen his family for over ten years before Jared arrived on the station.  They communicated sporadically through videos and announcements sent but Jensen had no emotional connection to the family he had once lived with.   Jensen’s idea of a relationship, when Jared first met him, was just about getting what he needed in the moment.  With Jensen’s strength as a technopath - and a teleporter if he would try to harness that power- came the need for grounding though and as much as Jared found it hard to believe that Jensen settled on him – a man who didn’t understand the science and math that defined his work – Jared had been drawn to Jensen immediately.  It wasn’t something he could understand but the bond between them had settled many arguments between them over the last two years.  Now though, with the bond between them stretched further that it ever had been, Jared felt more alone and more lost than he ever had.  He didn’t know how to settle this thing with Jensen and in his bitterest moments he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

Jensen’s first message had been short and simple.  There had been no emotion in his voice, no frantic apologies or desperate pleas for forgiveness.  He had simply said, _Jared, come home safely._

There was no ‘love, Jensen’, or ‘I miss you’.  Simply, ‘come home’.  His own response back had been just as short.  He didn’t know how to express what he was feeling to Jensen, not in a short video that Jensen would probably watch in the middle of the science lab while a dozen experiments were dancing around the back of his head.  His own message simply said, _Soon.  Love, Jared._ Even if Jensen didn’t say it, Jared felt the need to reassure Jensen that he did in fact still love him.

 A soft knock at the door of his cabin caused Jared to pull away from his thoughts.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Captain Pileggi stepped into the room.  “Empath Padalecki,” he said with a small, polite smile.  “Do you have a minute?”

“Absolutely,” Jared said, “what can I do for you, Captain?”

“Please, call me Mitch.”

“Of course, Captain, when you remember that my name is Jared,” he said with a small smile.  “What can I do for you?”  

The captain took a seat next to Jared on the bench.  The room was small and he was lucky they had individual quarters at all on a shuttle but the space station had the most advanced and most luxurious amenities that could be bought and the shuttle was part of the station’s property.  It was one of the ways Misha kept his people sane and the station’s shuttle was no different.  Jared’s room had a bed on one wall with a table and bench on the opposite wall, with drawers that folded back into the wall for his clothes.  Sitting next to Captain Pileggi, Jared smiled reassuringly. 

“I just want to check in with you, Jared.  Have you had a chance to get to know the crew yet?”

As part of his duties in the five week journey, Jared had been asked to assess the crew of the shuttle while he reviewed the files of the outpost crew members.  It wasn’t difficult to get to know the men on the shuttle.  There wasn’t much room for solitude unless you spent all your time in your quarters and that was frowned upon by the captain.  Jared had been able to get to know each of them a little in the two and a half weeks that they’d been together. 

“I don’t have any concerns about the mental health of your crew at this point,” Jared said, understanding the captain’s concern.  “You understand that I haven’t had a chance to do a full assessment but I haven’t seen any signs of trouble.  I’ve talked to each of them and let them know that they are required to stop by and see me from time to time before we reach the outpost.  I’ve implied that it would be better if they saw me once a week.”

Pileggi laughed at that.  “So you figure they won’t come more often if you don’t imply that there is a requirement.”

Jared smiled again at the captain’s easy going manner.  “They’re a close knit group of men and I don’t blame them for covering each other’s backs.  But I’m just here to help them deal with their own issues and find healthy ways of coping with them.  I’m not here to bust anyone off the crew.  If they start coming to see me once a week in a professional capacity they’ll realize that.”

Mitch nodded.  “I won’t dissuade them from that belief then.  I suppose this means you want to see the captain as well?”

“That would reassure the men and give more credit to my position.”

“I don’t suppose this could count as my first meeting with you?”

Jared laughed.  “I think we can count this one.”

Pileggi stood and held his hand out to shake Jared’s.  Jared knew the captain was dismissing him then, even though he was in Jared’s quarters.  “Thank you, Jared.  I’m sure the crew is in good hands.”

He left the room and Jared was a little amused at the captain.  He was a strange man, laid back and easy going when he could be but he expected the best of his people.  They worked hard and they played hard and Jared could appreciate that sort of work ethic.  Life as a shuttle crew was difficult.  They had to rely on each other to do their jobs and it was their safety at stake.  That sort of dependence developed a strong sense of unity in them and Jared was pleased to see it was reciprocated by the captain. 

He took a deep breath and let go of the tension that had been eating away at him as he waited to hear back from Jensen.  He pushed aside thoughts of his friends back on Vortex, of his lover, and smiled as he thought of the new friends he was making on the shuttle and the stories he’d have to tell when he got home.

 

 

Jensen blinked for a minute, taking in the change of location and holding onto the feeling of confusion as he took a few deep breaths.  He knew where he was without a doubt and he wondered why he was there.  He didn’t take a break from the labs often without Jared to pull him away and when he did it was never to take a leisurely stroll thought the park.  The park was Jared’s sort of thing.  He would get up every morning at some ridiculous hour – and yeah Jensen didn’t need a lot of sleep but he would never get out of bed with Jared for something like that – and run through the park. 

The first time he realized what was happening to him, what his relationship with Jared was becoming, had been when Jensen had accidentally ported to this exact spot in the park.  Jared had been heading to dinner and Jensen had found himself suddenly there, the need to find Jared completely dwarfing the need to be anywhere else.  Jensen knew what that moment meant and everything else fell into place; the awkward relationship he had with the psychologist; the immediate attraction and the countering need to push him away.  Jensen’s parents were bound to one another and had been since they were in high school.  Jensen had never wanted that though, never wanted to need anyone else like that when his whole life had taught him that everything he could depend on was what was right there within reach of his mind.  He’d lost contact with his family for a decade and they still had a strained relationship – mostly because Jensen still had a hard time dealing with the feelings of abandonment he’d had when they’d sent him away to school when he was still just a child – but he remembered the feeling of awe he’d had in his parent’s constant connection and being terrified by it at the same time.  He knew, even then, that he didn’t think like most people.  He never wanted someone who would be able to sense just how deep that difference went.  He never had a choice with Jared though.  Before he realized what was happening, he was porting into this stranger’s bedroom and was welcomed without reservation. 

Jensen let out a deep breath as he started walking the path Jared normally took.  Thoughts of Jared were too painful to focus on, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.  Jared was all he could think about which was absurd considering the things Jensen needed to focus on.  He doubted Jared would ever believe it even if he admitted it once he returned.  Alona was the only one who seemed to understand but she was the only one in their small circle of friends who had needed to ground herself in another person.  She was walking a wide berth around him lately and Jensen hated that he was so snappish with her.  She was the one keeping him together and he made a note to find a way to make it up to her.  He didn’t know how – or what – could ever make up for his behavior, but he would try.

He stopped at a bench in the park and sat down, wishing that it wasn’t the dark of night.  The station ran a full day cycle in the main common areas to help combat the many emotional stressors that came with long term station placement.  Jensen knew that fact because Jared had talked about it one night, sitting in their bed with his arms wrapped around Jensen.  Jensen had closed his eyes and listened to Jared ramble on about the things that Jeff and Misha were doing to make it a more hospitable long term environment.  At the time, Jensen had been happy enough to listen and Jared hadn’t been so exhausted from his work that he just wanted to sleep.

If it had been daytime, Jensen would have at least had people passing by to break him from his thoughts.  He should be back at the lab – he _had_ been there right up until he’d felt the need to be away and suddenly found himself in the park – but he couldn’t quite make himself walk away.

“Dr. Ackles?”

Jensen had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed anyone else close by.  He stared up at the tall man standing by the bench.  His skin was dark like coffee and he had a large, perfectly white smile that was warm and endearing.  Jensen knew him by name and reputation but not by introduction.

“Dr. Hodge,” he said, giving a polite smile – and pushing aside the thought of how proud Jared would be that he’d remembered his manners – as he stood up and offered his hand to the other man.

“Quiet enough for you out here?” The other man asked when Jensen took his seat again.  Jensen just nodded, hoping that the other man would realize he didn’t want to be part of any conversation.  He wasn’t getting the point though.  Which was why Jensen knew he should have stuck to his usual gruff manners.

“I’m surprised to see you out and about.  I’ve heard you don’t stray far from your labs, even at night.”

Jensen nodded again.  “I just needed a little fresh air I guess.”

“Not sleep?”

Jensen smirked.  “No.  I slept last night.  I should be good for another few days.”

It wasn’t entirely true.  He felt tired without Jared at his side but his body wasn’t ready to shut down and without the enticement of Jared in his bed, Jensen had no desire to be there.

“I know this might be a bit forward, but you know I do research on sleep and the function and difficulties in space?” 

Jensen nodded again.  Dr. Hodge had published a couple papers a few years back about the difference in sleep patterns for people with pyrokinetics and hydrokinetics and why it made pyrokinetics poor choices for long term space-bound positions.  His research had been able to support a new treatment for pyrokinetics who wanted to get into space and it was remarkably successful.  Jensen hadn’t been needed to help with any of their experiments but he tried to keep well versed in what the rest of the station’s scientific community – outside of his own lab – were doing.

“I’d love to get some reading on you.  As far as I know, you’re the only Gifted individual of any type who has the ability to go days without sleep on a regular basis.  I don’t know if you have the time, but it would only be a matter of wearing a special monitor on your arm for a few weeks.”

“Why would you be interested in my sleep patterns?” Jensen asked, genuinely curious.

“We need sleep to heal and to help us deal with our unconscious problems and I’m curious about your circumstances.  I’ve got this hypothesis that your sleep patterns are condensed in a way that allows you to take everything you need in a short period.  It’s just an idea though, knowing what I do about the little work you’ve allowed published on yourself.”

Jensen was surprised that Hodge knew about that.  Jensen had been asked to participate in a lot of studies but he’d only done a few and they had been years ago.  There weren’t many technopaths and none that had Jensen’s innate mental abilities so he’d had scientists contacting him left and right when he was younger.  His parents had allowed some studies, thinking it would give Jensen a deeper understanding of his differences.  Little did they realize that the last thing Jensen wanted to know was how different he really was. 

His initial reaction was to say no.  He hadn’t allowed anyone to poke and prod him for a good fifteen years, but he knew Hodge’s reputation and he knew from Misha and Alona that he was an honest and caring person.  He wasn’t Gifted but he embraced the typical and Gifted without reservation and his work was always about enlightening differences and helping people to overcome obstacles, not about making one better than the other as some typical researchers tended to be.

“Yeah, ok,” he found himself saying before he realized it.

Hodge looked surprised too.  “Really?”

“Sure.  I can handle an arm band for a couple weeks.  Anything else?”

“I’d like to have you come in each morning for some daily readings but I could do without it.”

Jensen knew then that this was a personal experiment for Hodge’s own curiosity but Jensen didn’t have a problem with that.  “Sure.  When do you want me to come by?”

“Now?”  Jensen’s face must have revealed his startled reaction because Hodge smiled as he looked down at his feet.  “Sorry, you probably need to get some sleep or get back to work or something.”

“Nah, I’m good.  We can go now.”

“Yeah?  Alright, I’m just down this way,” Dr. Hodge said as he pointed down the path towards the science community’s quieter halls. 

Jensen didn’t know what to think about it, or his agreement, but if he was helping a fellow scientist in a way that didn’t inconvenience him, what was the harm?

And it wouldn’t hurt to let Jared know he was doing something, besides working and moping, when he got back.

 

 

Two weeks later and Jensen was a slightly more relaxed man.  He took his jacket off and set it aside as he stretched before pushing his mind back into the computer banks.  The hum and energy of the computers gave him a feeling of control that Jensen lacked everywhere else in his life and he allowed that to calm him.

“Jensen, what is that?”

He focused his eyes on Alona who was staring at his arm.  He looked down and realized he’d forgotten about the arm band he’d had on for the last two weeks. 

“It’s for Aldis.”

“What?”

“He’s doing a study-”

“You called him Aldis.”

“That’s his name, Alona.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you’d know that.”  There was a teasing lilt in her voice but her eyes were wary.  “So what’s he doing?”

“He just wants to understand my sleep patterns.  He had some theories on why I don’t sleep like most people.”

“And that’s why you’re smiling this morning?”

“I was?”

“Yeah.  When I came in you were lit up like a Christmas tree.  Well, you would be if you were a normal person but you had a little grin on your face and that’s about the same thing for you.”

Jensen scowled but Alona was smiling at him, worry momentarily covered up by hope.  Jensen had the same feeling if he was honest with himself.

He shrugged, but he pulled her into her office.  Jensen didn’t like his; he liked to work on the floor where he could reach out and touch the computers.  He preferred Alona in her office though where he always knew how to find her.  Before Jared, Alona had been his one real friend and she had been the only thing between him and chewing out half the science community.

When they got to her office, he got a mug of coffee – her pot was always filled with his favorite.  Jensen hadn’t known that until Jared pointed it out – and sat down in the chair across from her desk.  She settled in quickly too, obviously anxious to hear what he had to say.

“I got another message from Jared last night.”

“You did?”

He nodded before taking a sip of coffee.  She knew they’d had a few rocky messages while Jared was gone but the last message Jensen had sent he’d finally told Jared that he was afraid Jared’s dogs would escape the backyard without Jared there to keep them in line.  Jared seemed to get what Jensen was saying; he missed Jared and didn’t know if he could keep his life in order without him there anymore.

“Yeah.  He told me to buy more dog toys and get some treats and I should maybe spend some time teaching the dogs tricks.”

Alona smiled but she was shaking her head.  “That’s the strangest apology I’ve ever heard Jensen and I’m still amazed it worked.”

Jensen shrugged but he was still smiling like an idiot.  “Yeah.  He named the dogs.”

“Jared named the dogs in your head?”

Jensen nodded.  “He’s coming home.”

“Of course he is,” Alona said, her smile suddenly softening.

“He has to come back if he finally named the dogs.”

 

 

The mess hall was full tonight and Jared was smiling as he looked around the room.  They were all together, celebrating Kelly’s engagement.  Apparently Kelly’s girl was a bit of a space geek even if she was planet bound so he’d sent her a message at the last relay station.  Her favorite fictional character had been to that spot and she’s asked him once if he’d ever been that far before.  This time when they hit the relay, he’d asked her to marry him.  Her response had come in that morning and Kelly was grinning like an idiot.  The crew seemed to think highly of her too.  They’d all met over the years or sent messages back and forth and Jared could feel the honest happiness and well wishes from the others.

Mitch had called a night of celebration so they were all in the mess hall, sharing some contraband sweets that Lehne had somehow managed to stow away.

“How did you get that on the ship anyway?” Jared asked.

Fred was a great guy, always smiling and laughing, though in the beginning he’d creeped Jared out a little.  “I can’t tell you that, Jared.  See, that’s the deal I got with the Captain.”

Jared looked over at Mitch and the older man smiled widely.  “Nothing dangerous gets on this ship, but if they can sneak a little contraband food or music or something harmless I’m more than happy to overlook it.  But if I find it in my walk through they have to leave it behind.”

Jared noted the way the men seemed to take pride in duping their captain, but he also knew that the captain had a remarkable understanding of who had what on board.  Jared suspected either Mitch knew about each stash and ignored it if it was well enough hidden, or that his first officer, Pellegrino, reported it all.  He wasn’t sure but Mark had the devil’s luck in learning people’s secrets and Jared was no less affected by his grin that anyone else. 

“Noted for next time I ship out with you,” Jared said with a grin.

On the big screen behind the table in the mess room was a large monitor and there were pictures of Brock and his girl flashing on the screen.  Jared sat down and watched as he kept an eye on the rest of the room from the corner of his eye.  The crew was having a good time, music playing nice and loud while they argued about everything from sports to research or who had the best pick-up lines.

The crew was young but they’d been together for a few years and Jared had been waiting for them to try to involve him.  He wasn’t disappointed when the guys were suddenly sitting all around him.

“Alright Jared, fess up.  What line did it for you?  How did Ackles manage to snag you?” Cohan asked with her silky smooth accent.  Her smile was the same, like sugar coated sin but Jared just laughed.

“Jensen isn’t one to use pick-up lines.”

“Come on!  He didn’t say ‘I wish I was your derivative so I could lie tangent to your curves’?”

Jared started laughing with the others because a slew of pick-up lines followed and they were getting progressively worse.  He had to put a stop to them when Able and Cortese – in tandem – yelled out over the others that Jared must be an alien because his ass was from outer space. 

“Stop!  I can’t take it!” he laughed as Cohan threw a hand over Able’s mouth from adding more to the game.  “Jensen didn’t use pick-up lines, he just showed up in my bedroom.”

“Now that is ballsy,” Pellegrino said from across the table.

The captain was rolling his eyes but the rest of the crew was staring at Jared, waiting for more.  It was all in fun and Jared knew he was the only one on the ship with the exception of Mitch who was in a relationship.  “Not like that.  He just … Jensen is a porter.  He didn’t mean to do it and he just ported into my bedroom.  He hasn’t really gone away since.”

Cortese smiled at him and he knew he was grinning as stupidly as Kelly was earlier but he couldn’t help it.  He knew he was reading Jensen’s last communication right.  He knew that in Jensen’s messed up way, he’d admitted to how much he missed Jared and that he needed him.  And Jared had replied in a like manner, sure that Jensen would understand that he still loved him and that he’d be home as soon as he could.  They were finally on the right track again and even if he couldn’t see Jensen, it made him feel better to know they were still good.

“You two settled things then?” Cortese said next to him.

“What?”  He looked around the table and saw the nods and knowing glances and wondered how transparent he had been.

“You just… we didn’t know you weren’t happy until you suddenly were.  We knew the message was from Ackles and it didn’t take much to figure out.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Jared said with a slight smile.

“We’re not the smartest man in the universe,” Able said with a wink, “but we do have our moments.”

“This apparently isn’t one of them,” the captain said, saving him from any more attention.

“Come on, Cap.  You know you love us.”

“You can’t prove it,” Mitch said with a grin.  “I only hired you because no one else would work with Lehne.”

 

 

 

“Cassidy, have you seen the latest projections?”

Heads swung his way and Jensen knew in that moment that they all knew exactly what he was talking about. 

“Jensen?  What can I do for you?” Katie asked with a plastered on smile.

He generally liked Katie but he was barely holding it together and even with Alona following behind him, he couldn’t help but clench his fists in impotent rage.  “You can tell me what this means,” he said as he held out the latest reports of the asteroid that Katie’s team was tracking; the one that would possibly strike the moon the outpost was on and that Jared was on his way towards.  The one that was now moving faster and closer than it had been projected to. 

“Jensen-”

She didn’t say anything else because they all knew he could read it as well as they could.  Heyerdahl squared off with Jensen, stepping between him and Katie, putting words to what no one else wanted to say. 

“The asteroid will undoubtedly break apart as it moves close to the moon.  Pieces will break off and will hit the moon close to the outpost, destroying it.  And from the latest reports it’s moving faster than we anticipated.  The shuttle won’t have more than a day or two to get out of range or they’ll be caught in the debris.”

It was like Heyerdahl had just twisted a knife in his gut.  Jensen felt a strong hand on his back and realized Alona was in front of him, watching with worried eyes again.  He looked up to see Sebastian moving closer – a sometimes friend and occasional fuck before he’d met Jared – and there was nothing but horror in the man’s eyes. 

“Alona,” Jensen managed to gasp out finally.

“They’ve already sent a message to the shuttle to get them to turn around Jensen,” Sebastian said gently.    

It was a hard truth when you worked in space.  Sometimes there was no way to save the people that were in your care and when Jensen turned around he saw Misha at the door of the lab.  The administrator looked haggard and grim and Jensen knew that it had been Misha’s choice to call the shuttle back, condemning the nine people on the outpost to their death.  And he’d been the one to send a message to the outpost and shuttle to explain it.

He wanted to feel sympathy for him, but all Jensen could feel was the growing panic that Jared wasn’t coming home.  It didn’t matter that they said the shuttle was turning around.  Jensen wouldn’t be able to stop the panic until Jared was back in his arms where he was supposed to be.

“Jared is going to come home to you Jensen,” Alona reassured him again.  He didn’t know who was more surprised, her or him, when he pulled her into an embrace and couldn’t let go.

 

 

“So what are we looking at?”  Pileggi asked as they sat around the table. 

Everyone was tense and Jared more so than the rest.  He didn’t know the technical jargon that he’d been hearing everyone relay back and forth over the last two hours  but he was picking up on everyone’s underlying tension. 

Pellegrino was the one who stretched back in his chair, wiping tired eyes with his hand.  “Some sort of space debris hit the outer tanks.  We were able to seal up the worst of the damage, thanks to some damn fine EVA by Kelly.  The good thing is it’s contained and won’t be a problem anymore.”

“And the bad side?” The captain asked.

“It was the extra oxygen tank that was hit.  We have plenty of oxygen to get to the outpost, but we don’t have enough to make it home.  We can resupply at the outpost but…”

“But we just got a message to turn around,” Pileggi supplied.  He looked around the room at all of them and Jared felt a wave of nausea pass over him.  By the heavens, they were screwed.

“Alright,” there was only a slight pause as Pileggi took in the news and started planning their next move.  “Cohan, can we make it?”

She nodded and Jared forced himself to take a deep breath, feeling the room relax bit by bit as Lauren spoke.

“If we keep to our current speed and the asteroid does too, then we can make it and still get far enough away to avoid the damage the asteroid will do to the moon.”

“Then we do everything we can to make this journey as quick as possible.  If you have suggestions, let me know.  Cortese, use the emergency system to pass on word to the Vortex.  Let’s see if their pretty relays work as fast as Collins boasted they would be when he had us put them in place.   I also want a message to the outpost to let them know what we’re going to need.  Let them know their people need to be on this shuttle as soon as we seal the doors.  If they take more than five minutes to get their bags stowed I will throw them out the air lock myself.  Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Cortese responded smartly.

“You heard it then.  To your duties.  If you need help, get it.  We have more pairs of hands on this ship than just your own and we have too many lives as stake to piss this chance away.”

The others stood as one, saluting their captain but Jared stayed where he was, feeling numb.  Able came up behind him as the others filed out and squeezed Jared’s shoulder lightly.  “We’ll get through this Jared, just you wait and see.  The captain has landed through worse.”

And Jared knew it was true.  Captain Pileggi had been a captain longer than Jared had been alive and the man was a living legend.  How Misha had managed to lure the man into working for the station was beyond him.  Now, he was just grateful that he had. 

He felt the confidence that Jake had and Jared took a deep breath, letting the younger man’s confidence fill him up. 

“Yeah, alright.”

“Come on.  It might not be much, but you can lend me a hand.  We’ll get a list of what we need to happen at the outpost and make sure Gen has the list a.s.a.p.  You think the Captain is daunting?  Wait until you see Gen with a mission.”

There was a smile on his face, but his eyes were serious and Jared knew that he was about to see Pileggi’s crew shine in ways he’d never hoped to.

 

 

It was a tense two days while everyone watched and waited to see if the shuttle would be able to make it in time.  Jared had a constant headache from the continual battering on his emotional shields.  The shuttle was getting messages from the station and Misha got a message through the emergency relays letting the captain know exactly how fast the relays were and that they’d received the message with their current plan.  Mitch played it for them all and Misha was on the screen, telling them all how brave they were and that he knew if anyone could make it home through all of it, they were the ones.  He’d also given them a list of instructions from the community to help them speed up the shuttle’s travel time.  The list was extensive and they were travelling faster than any shuttle had before.  Misha had smirked when he’d finished the list, saying that it helped that the smartest man in the universe had some extra incentive to see them home fast.  Jared had taken it for the message that it was; Jensen was fine but working himself into a frenzy with Jared in possible danger.  They’d all smiled sheepishly at him after that, but Jared was too busy pushing their emotions away to notice.

There was another message that came through and Jared had hoped that Jensen might have sent something – that he might have used his connection to Misha to get an extra one in – but it was for the captain and Jared had retired to his bed after that to try to rest while he could. 

 

 

“You did everything you could Jensen,” Misha said as they stared at the computer monitors.

Jensen didn’t seem to hear him and Misha wondered if he needed to call Alona back to work.  She’d gone home to give the news to her husband.  Jeff was grief stricken when he’d heard the news about the outpost but even more so about his friend and colleague who was now in peril on the shuttle. 

There had been no news in two weeks.  The shuttle should land on the outpost any time though and Captain Pellegi wouldn’t use the emergency relays unless he needed to.  The outpost had a stronger communication relay that would give them updates that were only hours apart instead of the days and weeks that the regular shuttle communications had to wait through. 

Jensen wasn’t moving and Misha was there with him, waiting.  There were others there too, Dr. Hodge had become friends with Jensen over the last two months and he was sitting in the corner to stay out of the way of the professionals who were working. 

Alona would be back soon, Misha knew, but he wished she were already there.  She was as close to Jared as he was but she was a source of continued spirits and high hopes among them.  When she was gone, the room felt darker and colder.  He made a note to ask Jeff if it always felt like that for him when she left, but looking at Jensen, he was pretty sure he already had an answer to that.  He had no idea what the bond did to two people but he could see the effect it had on Jensen, for the good and the bad. 

They had to get Jared back or Misha knew they’d lose Jensen too.  He wouldn’t kill himself or throw himself into danger the way some people might after losing a loved one.  No, Jensen would go into his computers one day and just never come back. 

“I know,” Jensen finally croaked out.  “I just don’t know if it will be enough.”

Misha squeezed his shoulder and took a deep breath.  “It will be,” he said as he looked back at the screen, waiting.

“It has to be.”

 

 

Everything looked like it was in chaos, but Jared knew by now that it wasn’t at all.  No matter that there were more people there now, everyone knew where to go and what to do.  In addition to the shuttle crew, they were joined by the outpost crew.  The head of the facility, Jim Beaver, met them at the air lock with a grim look and a teenager at this side.  His adopted son, Colin, was just as unhappy but they had brave smiles on as they made the introductions as each of his crew climbed onto the shuttle with their gear ready. 

Tension radiated from the others, but it was energetic tension and not the draining kind that Jared had grown used to.  There was determination and purpose in what everyone was doing.  Some of the newer crew members were stowing their bags while others started moving with the shuttle crew to start refilling the air tanks.  It would take a few hours to get that settled so once they got the process started they’d be able to sit back in the shuttle and take off as soon as it was completed.

The process itself was fairly simply so the crew was back on the shuttle with only a few members left to oversee the procedure.  Everyone was relaxing as the tanks filled and they were closer to leaving but the members of the outpost crew seemed to grow anxious every time they looked at the sealed doorways that led to the outpost.

Jared was getting nauseous from the anxiety they were throwing at him when his emotional reserves were so low and he had to escape.  He got directions from Beaver’s kid and found his way back to where Jim, Mitch, Rob – Jim’s second in command – and Mark were talking quietly.  They looked up startled when he walked in and he realized that whatever was happening, they didn’t want him to know.

Mitch wasn’t the sort of man to lie though and Jared squared his shoulders as he addressed the captain.  “What’s happening?”

The others looked to Mark and he shared a look with Jim before the other man spoke.

“You see the seals as you were coming through?” Jim asked.  Jared nodded and Jim let out a deep breath.  “They’re meant to protect the outpost from anything that might pull away still hitched.”

It was common practice ever since a string of bad storms when the program was still in its infancy had killed all the members of two outposts.  The docked ships had been knocked clear of their rigging and broken the inner seals, causing a leak that no one could fix quick enough. 

“Yeah, I know about them.”

“You have to seal it from both sides.  Someone inside the ship has to seal the ship up tight.  And someone on this side has to seal the tunnels up.  In most cases, a ship wouldn’t take enough damage from ripping a seal – that’s why it was a problem in the first place- but …”

“But?”

Jim scrubbed a hand through his beard but Mitch took up the conversation.  “But the shuttle took damage already and while it wasn’t enough to worry us, we don’t know if the ship would stay intact if we broke the seal from the other side.”

No one said anything and it only took Jared a second to realize what they were saying.  “You have to leave someone behind.”

Mitch nodded and Jim pointed to the circle of them.  “One of us.  I ain’t letting one of my crew stay behind.”

“Not you,” Mitch said immediately.  “Colin already lost one family.  You’re getting on that shuttle with your son.”

“Mitch-“

“I agree Jim,” Rob said immediately.  “I can do this.”

It was about to become a fight.  Jared could see each of the men there was ready to make the sacrifice.  Mitch stopped it before it could escalate.  “We’ll draw to see who stays.  It’s only fair.  It was fate that stuck us here and its fate that will chose who stays.”

Rob ran to the kitchen and got the straws, and then Mitch cut one of them short.  Jared made Mitch put an extra one in when he realized he wasn’t going to include Jared, but as much as Jared wanted to get home to Jensen, he couldn’t let someone else die in his place and he knew it.  Mitch held the straws and each man drew one.  Rob drew first, followed by Jim, then Jared, and Mark.  Mitch dropped his hands when only his was left.  He pressed against his back with both hands and Jared didn’t know what to say when he raised his hand again with the short straw in it. 

“We have an hour to get ready.  Let’s go.”

It was more of a hustle then as Jared followed Mitch.  He knew the captain would have been happier if Jared had gone back to the shuttle, but he told him that he needed to be there in case Mitch needed him before the end.  He watched as Rob showed Mitch how to seal the inner seal of the outpost and then when Jim showed him how to release the ship from the dock and contact the space station.

It was Jensen’s improved design, the new relay that the outpost boasted.  Jared felt a burst of pride in his lover’s work but he couldn’t let himself dwell on that.  The thing about the relay was that it would only take a few hours to get to the space station and wouldn’t burn out the way the emergency relays would.  It could contact directly with a series of relays that had been set up a year before.  The shuttle wasn’t stationary enough to use them but this way, Jim told them, they’d be able to send a message to the station to let them know they got away clear and approximate if they were going to make it far enough to survive the explosion.

It was hard to sit there with the others so while they were waiting for the tanks to finish, Jared went back to the crew.  He met each of the new members, laughed with Colin and winked with Julie about his fascination with Nicki.  He made sure the shuttle crew was good too, taking a few minutes to talk to each person, even if it was just a quick quip about it being a hell of a journey with them. 

He took a deep breath when it was time.  He was standing with the others and he kept his eyes down as Mark and Mitch said their good-byes.  He knew what he had to do but he was afraid they’d see it in his eyes.  He wished it could be different.  Jensen wouldn’t understand, but he knew it was who Jared was.

Mark slipped through the hatch and it was just Jared and Mitch. 

“Why did you do it, Mitch?” he asked.  Mitch knew what he was talking about and he gave a half smile.  “You had the short straw in your other hand the whole time.  You made sure no one saw the long straw in your hand until you switched it behind you back with the short one.”

“I couldn’t let Jim be the one and it’s up to a captain to go down with his ship.”

Jared nodded.  “Yeah, I get that.”

“Jensen sent me a message,” Mitch said, causing Jared to start.

“He said I had to get you home because the world shouldn’t be without his genius and he couldn’t be that without you.”

“Mitch-”

“That’s not why I’m doing this, but I thought you should know.  Whatever was happening between you before, he loves you.”

Jared smiled.  “Yeah, I know.  Just … “

He struck then, pushing out with his telekinesis, catching Mitch completely off guard as he tried to protect himself from the mental shove.  The captain tripped over the raised edge of the hatch and fell back into the tunnel. He tried to stumble forward but Jared used his gift to hold him back.  “Just tell him I love him, Mitch.  The crew needs its captain to get them home and they don’t need me.  I’m dead weight on this journey now and you need able bodies on that ship.” 

He closed the latch then and watched as Mitch screamed at him from the other side.  When Jared turned his back, the pounding continued for a few more minutes and then the outpost fell into uncanny silence.  It was Cortese who came through the radio asking for clearance to take off and Jared released the shuttle, watching through a hatch as it pulled away. 

Jared took his time walking back to the main science station where the communication relay was located.  When the shuttle was completely clear he started the computer calculations that would tell him where the asteroid was and if the shuttle would get free of its impact.

He felt his heart lighten slightly when the answer came back with a 93% positive.  He let out a few deep breaths then and steeling himself for what he had to do next.

He opened up the video communications and the recording began.  “Space Station Vortex, this is Jared Padalecki on Outpost 72.  The shuttle has taken off with all nine members of the outpost crew and the original seven members of the shuttle crew.  I elected to remain behind to release the hatch to ensure the shuttle could take off without further damage.  The computer calculates a 93% chance that the shuttle will make it out of range of the explosion the asteroid impact will cause.”

Jared paused, unsure of how to go on.  He needed to though.  This was his last chance.  “Misha, I know you’ll be the one to see this first.  I need you to get Jensen.  I need,” his voice broke and he stopped to calm himself down as much as possible. 

Then he started again, with a message for Jensen.

 

 

The station was silent as all the screens went blank around them.  Alona was standing in the middle of the storm and she could feel the energy rising off of Jensen.  Misha had played the first part of the message for them and now Jensen was standing in the middle of the science lab, his eyes dancing green with the computer images, seemingly unaware that though he was watching Jared’s message on a small screen, he’d shut down the visuals of every monitor in the lab. 

Suddenly Jared’s image appeared on every blank screen.  There were tears on Jared’s face and he was letting out a deep breath.  Alona moved closer to Jensen until she was pressed up against his side.  He didn’t even know she was there though. 

_“Jensen, I’m so sorry.  I’m not going to make it home.”_

Jensen’s knees gave out, but Aldis seemed to have realized what was happening too because he was on Jensen’s other side, holding him up.

 _“Someone had to stay behind and it had to be me. I couldn’t let someone else die when I could stop it Jen.  I … I don’t want to die but I just couldn’t.  I’m sorry that you’ll have deal with the aftermath but I know you can get through it.  You’re strong Jen and you have friends to help you if you’ll let them.  I … I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to make-up with you in person and I’m sorry I won’t be there to see your dogs have puppies,”_ Jared said with a half laugh through his tears.

_“I love you Jensen.  I’m sorry I can’t be there to say it to you in person anymore.  Just hold onto that Baby.  You’ll get through this and then you’ll find someone else to take care of you because Alona is gonna need help after a while.”_

She felt Jensen’s silent sob and she dropped her head to rest against his shoulder, unable to look up at the screen as her friend said his goodbye to his lover. 

_“Just, be good Jensen.  Be who you were meant to be and know that my last thoughts, as all my thoughts have been for the last two years, are of you.  I love you.”_

 

The video stopped on a picture of Jared, eyes red from crying but smiling back at them.  Alona felt her heart breaking but it was nothing compared to what Jensen had to be feeling.  His body was completely still though and she tugged at his hand.  “Jensen,” she said with a cracked voice.

Aldis voiced his name again but there was still nothing.

Misha started to move closer, but then Jensen straightened up, pulling away from them both.  “No.”

He looked at her, eyes begging but his mouth set in a firm line.  “No.  No, there’s another way.”

“Jensen,” Misha touched his arm and Jensen pulled away again, this time moving far enough away that they couldn’t reach him. 

“I won’t accept this.  You said he’d come home.  He said he’d come home and I will be damned if he doesn’t!”

Alona’s bottom lip trembled again as she tried to stop her tears from starting again.  “Jensen, there is nothing else we can do.  There are no other shuttles that could get to him.”

He looked at her, something wild in his eyes then.  “Then I’ll go get him.”

“What?”

“I’ll get him.  I’ll teleport myself to him.”

“Jensen,” she couldn’t hold back the tears then, but she continued through them.  “No one can port that far.  It takes hours to get communications with them and we’re using advanced relays for that.”

Jensen’s mouth gaped open at her words and he stared at her for a minute before he ran back to his bank of computers.  Alona ran after him, knowing that Misha and Aldis were following, as was every eye in the lab. 

“Jensen, what are you doing?”

“A relay.  I don’t have to port to him at once.  I can piggy back off other ships and stations,” Jensen said, his eyes whirling green with an intensity and speed that she’d never seen before. 

“Jensen?”

“I just need to figure out who to jump to and I can move to the next one.”

“Jensen, you can’t,” Misha said softly. 

The administrator looked old beyond his years but Jensen seemed not to notice in his sudden rage.   Jensen snarled at Misha, pinning him to the bank of computers behind him.  “You sent him out there!  Don’t you fucking tell me I can’t fix this!”

“You can’t port fast enough to get to him Jensen.  You don’t have the energy to do it without draining yourself.  You won’t make it half way there before you have to rest.”

“The generators,” Aldis said from behind them.  Jensen instantly let go of Misha and turned to Aldis.  “You can use the generators, Jensen.”

Jensen smiled then and he was in the computers again.

“Aldis?” Misha asked.  Alona wanted to hear what he had to say too, but she moved closer to Jensen again, just dropping her hand on his to let him know she was there.

“When I was doing research on Jensen’s sleep patterns, I realized that Jensen doesn’t sleep like us because his body takes energy directly from the computer banks.  When he gets tired, he just plugs in and fills his batteries.  He should be able to do the same thing with the generators on the ships.  He’ll have to limit his jumps to ships with a backup generator, but he should be able to do it.”

Alona closed her eyes and looked up at Jensen, but her question was for Aldis.  “And if he’s too tired and can’t port right?  We’ll lose him.”

“Alona,” Aldis’s voice sounded devastated and she looked up to see his eyes on Jensen.  “We’ve already lost him.  The only way to get him back is by saving Jared.”

She looked at Misha and saw the same knowledge in his eyes.  She sniffed, trying to hold back more tears.  “Alright.  Alright,” she said again more clearly.  “What do you need Jensen?”

“List of ships and outposts at your station.  You need to contact them and let them know what I’m going to do.”

She didn’t want to leave Jensen but as she debated sending someone else to get it from her station, she felt the pull that was her husband walking into the room.  He looked as crushed as the rest of them and she realized that Jensen must have put Jared’s last message up on every monitor in the station.  She ran to Jeff, wrapping him in her arms for a quick moment.  “He’s going after him.  Help him.”

Jeff gaped at her but then she was running to her station, hoping this worked and knowing her husband would do everything he could to see her friend through the next hour.

 

 

Jensen’s mind wouldn’t stop working and he had never been more grateful for his unique abilities and the determined way Jared had made him practice his porting.  His heart was ripped to shreds but Jensen refused to give up on Jared.  He’d screwed up before, but he was going to fix this.  He was going to get Jared or die trying.  It was a choice he was willing to make and if he failed, at least he would never have to know what life without Jared was like.

Alona had contacted the list of ships and they were all aware of what he was trying.  They’d agreed – or Alona and Misha had begged, bribed, and threatened until they agreed – and Jensen was ready.  He just had one more thing to do.

The video opened up and Jensen straightened himself up.  He had washed his face to make sure he was presentable, in case it was the last time Jared saw his face. 

He smiled then and began recording.

“Jared, I’m coming.”

 

 

Captain Weatherly was about as open minded as you could get and he’d had dealings with Misha Collins over at the Vortex space station for years.  He considered it a privilege to dock there and he had a long friendship with that man that was based entirely on old movies. 

When he was contacted about the current emergency he’d been intrigued.  His scientists all talked about Jensen Ackles with a mixture of awe and fear and Michael had met with Jared Padalecki before.  If there was anything he could do to aid in a rescue he was certainly willing to do it.

He was more than a little surprised at the request though, even more so when Jensen Ackles landed in the middle of the helm out of nowhere.  He stumbled and Michael was there to catch him before he could fall. 

“Thanks.  You have the generators up?” the man asked. 

Michael was surprised at the look of raw need in Ackles’ eyes and he nodded.   The scientist closed his eyes and suddenly the lights dimmed on the ship.  For a few minutes they flickered off and on before the backup generator finally kicked on.  When it did, Jensen looked up at him.

“You needed the exact coordinates of the ship, Seattle?” Michael asked.

Jensen nodded and Michael was yelling for his first officer.  “Alba!  You have it?”

“Sir,” she handed him the print out with the exact coordinates, accurate to the second she printed it.

“Good luck, Ackles.”

“Thank you.”

And then he was just gone.

“Sir, what the hell was that?”

“We’ve either just watched history in the making or a suicidal rescue attempt.”

“Michael?”

She sounded uneasy and Michael wasn’t feeling any better.  He knew the look in Jensen’s eyes would haunt him for a long while.  “Contact Vortex and let them know he’s on his way.”

 

 

Jared stared at the screen, frozen by the look in his lover’s eyes.  Jensen was good at closing himself off from people but in the message he’d left himself open for Jared to see.  He’d never seen so much desperation in his lover before and he was terrified of what he was going to do.  Jared sent a message back immediately, demanding to know what was happening, but he wasn’t sure he’d be around long enough to get an answer.  He just had to hope that Misha, Alona, and Jeff were able to keep Jensen from doing anything stupid.

Jensen looked beautiful though, and Jared traced his finger over the image of his lover’s lips, wishing he’d at least had a chance to kiss them goodbye.

 

 

Jensen staggered to his knees, unable to stop himself as he vomited over the floor of the outpost. It was his seventh jump and his first to an outpost.  He had landed in a mining station and dirt clung to the metal in ways that Jensen remembered all too well.  He’s spent time on the outpost when he’d first wanted to understand the problems the mining community was having.  He’d been part of a multi-disciplinary team sent in to improve the facility and there was no way to keep the grime out.

“Jensen Ackles,” the voice wasn’t happy to hear him and Jensen wasn’t entirely happy to be there either.  He and Kerr Smith had a long history of one-up-manship but he was where Jensen needed to be so he bucked up and looked at the administrator of the mining outpost.

“Smith.”

Jensen tried to get to his feet but it took longer than he liked.  A bottle of hydrating fluid was placed in his hand and Jamie was there at his side.  “Dr. Hodge said you would need this about now.”

He tried to smile at her but he didn’t have any strength to give her.  He tried to tip it back to drink but vertigo almost knocked him over and it was Kerr who steadied him.

“Stars, Jensen, what the hell are you doing?”

“I can’t,” Jensen said, shaking his head.  He took a drink and realized he was thirsty.  He drank steadily until it was gone and then it was replaced with another. 

He looked at Kerr again and took a deep breath.  “I can’t lose him.  I need your generators.”

He didn’t know what was in his eyes, but Kerr stared for a moment in surprise, and then called out.  “Generators up.”

Jensen nodded as he stood up again and braced himself on the computer.  For the first time in his life, the movements of the computers in his head made him feel nauseous but he ignored it.  He was almost there.  One more ship and then he’d be back in Jared’s arms. 

 

 

Jared was pacing. He’d called the shuttle and talked to Mitch but the captain didn’t know anything about what Jensen was doing either.  Not that Jared had expected him to but it was good to be able to say a proper good bye to the captain.  Mitch was still pissed at Jared, but he took it better than Jared had expected.

Now, Jared just had to wait it out and that was the hardest part.  He wanted to know what Jensen was doing and if his lover would survive Jared’s death but there was no way for Jared to predict that.  He knew Alona and Jeff would do their best, but it would be up to Jensen and his lover was stubborn.  If he decided to live or die with Jared, he would.

There was a large bang back in the tunnel and Jared turned in surprise.  He still had time before the asteroid’s impact but that didn’t mean nothing else could hit the outpost.

He stopped as he rounded the corner, unable to process what he was seeing. 

“Jared?”

“Jensen?”  Tears filled his eyes and he was falling to his knees to grab Jensen who was lying on the floor, clutching his head. 

“Jared?  Jared? I made it?”

“Jensen, what are you doing here?  How did you-”

His words were cut off as Jensen righted himself and crushed their lips together.  The kiss was hard and dirty and flavored with salt tears that they both ignored.

“You can’t be here,” Jared whispered against Jensen’s lips.  “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Gonna take you home,” Jensen said with a shaky voice.

“How Jen?”  He didn’t think there was any hope of getting out of there, but Jensen was there and if anyone could figure it out, it was Jensen.

“Pull the generators up.”

“What?”

“Jared, please, help me to my feet and get me to the generators.  If I don’t do this now, I’m afraid I won’t be able to.  Please, just trust me.”

As much as he wanted to ask, he didn’t.  Jensen was barely able to keep his feet as Jared pulled him up, but they made their way awkwardly to the main room where Jared kept an arm under Jensen’s shoulder and around his waist to keep him upright.

The generators pulled up and Jensen licked his lips, moistening them.  “Can you get the shuttle coordinates?”

Jared didn’t answer but pulled up the information that Jensen asked for, then showed him. 

“Jared, keep a tight hold on me, alright?  I can’t hold on tight enough anymore so you’ve got to be my arms, okay?”

“Jensen?”

“Jared, this is it!  This is the most important fucking thing I will ever ask you to do.  Just fucking hold onto me and don’t you let go, no matter what.”

“Alright, Jensen, I will.”

Jared felt the exhaustion in his lover, felt the sheer desperation in him in ways that his eyes hadn’t been able to translate.  He bit back tears and buried his forehead in Jensen’s neck, breathing in his scent.  “I love you,” he whispered.

He felt Jensen sob in his arms and then the deep breath that was Jensen regaining his composure.  “Love you too Jared.  Never gonna make it without you so you better stay with me, alright?”

“Always,” Jared whispered. 

The generators started humming around them then and he felt a jolt in Jensen’s body.  It was like a rush of adrenaline but it was stronger, something Jared had no way of describing.  When the lights went out overhead, Jensen wrapped both arms around Jared’s waist and Jared held him close.

Without warning, the world seemed to spin around him.  Vertigo took his senses and nothing was where it was supposed to be.  The pitch black turned into too bright lights.  The hushed silence he’d grown accustomed to at the outpost was suddenly filled with loud voices.  He held onto Jensen, unable to put together what had happened, until he felt the press of Jensen’s lips against his own. 

He lost himself in that for a minute before Jensen pulled back and looked up at him.

“Told them I could do it,” Jensen said, then his eyes rolled back into his head and he was unconscious.

“Jensen?”

“Jared!”  Hands were pulling him away from Jensen but Jared was too disoriented to understand until he was pushed back against the wall.  Someone tried to hold him there and he pushed out with arms and mind, sending them across the room.

An arm was against his throat then and his eyes narrowed on the new person trying to keep him from Jensen. 

“Jared!  Damn it, we’re trying to help him!”

He stopped, eyes finally making sense of what he was seeing.  Mitch Pileggi was standing in front of him.  He was back on the shuttle and Jensen was lying unconscious on the floor with Able trying to check him over.

“Mitch, what happened?”

Mitch smiled then.  “The son of a bitch did it!”  The captain looked over at Able then.  “Able?”

“His vitals are weak but steady.  Let’s get him back to Jared’s quarters.  I can take care of him there and I’m sure we’ll all be happier not to witness another scene.”

“Mitch?” Jared asked again because his brain wasn’t catching up yet.

“Follow Jake and I’ll fill you in.”  Jared did but Mitch stopped and clapped Jim Beaver on the back.  “You wanna send the good news on home?”

“Absolutely.  Good to have you back Jared,” Jim said softly then he was walking back towards the cock pit.

Jared followed Jake after that, Kelly trailing behind to make sure that Jared made it.  Able took a few minutes to look Jensen over again and whispered a few words to Kelly.  The other man ran from the room and returned a few minutes later with supplies that Able had wanted and then he left them alone.

Mitch came in a second later, bottle of alcohol in hand.  He took a seat on the bench in Jared’s room and Jared followed him.  When Able was done he smiled at them.

“He’s exhausted himself and he’s dehydrated.  We’ll see if we can hydrate him enough when he wakes up.  If not, I’ll start an IV but I think he’ll be fine with a lot of rest and a little bit of care.”

“Thank you Jake,” Pileggi said, and then Jake left.

Mitch got up and found two glasses then returned to the bench and poured two tall drinks.  He clinked his glass with Jared and then they were drinking.

“We got a message on the emergency relays a few hours ago saying that Jensen was trying to save you.  Apparently, he uses the power from the generators to boost his strength.  He’s hopped from ship to outpost to shuttle until he made his way to you.  Three hours of porting from one place to the next with only a long enough stop to power up.  That’s one hell of a boy you got there, Jared.”

Jared looked at his lover and closed his eyes, thinking about all the ways that could have gone wrong.  It didn’t though, the stubborn son of a bitch.  “Yeah, he really is.”

Mitch finished his glass and stood up.  “Can’t wait to meet him.  You let Able know when he wakes up, and then you let us know when he’s ready to meet the crew.  They’re dying to meet the man who ported himself clear across the known universe to save you.”

Jared nodded, unable to say anything.  When the captain was gone, Jared went to the bed and stripped Jensen’s clothes off and then got rid of his own before crawling into bed beside his lover.

He took a deep breath of the scent that was uniquely Jensen and he barely closed his eyes before he was asleep. 

 

 

Jensen slept for three days and Jared didn’t move from his side except when they needed to get to Jensen for medical reasons.  Able hooked him up to an IV the next morning and continued monitoring him but his life signs were good, if still a little weak, and Able told Jared that he needed to give Jensen time to rest.  Gen had calculated the amount of energy Jensen had used to get to Jared and it still boggled Jared’s mind. 

Lying beside him, Jared couldn’t help but be concerned, no matter how much they reassured him that Jensen would be fine.  When Jared tried to reach Jensen’s emotions there was nothing there.  Even people in a coma gave off emotional responses to things that happened around them even if they never reacted in another way.  There wasn’t even the dizzying motion of Jensen’s ever-working brain.  It was like being alone and Jared hated that feeling. 

“Come on, Jen,” he whispered into Jensen’s ear.  “I need you to wake up.  You got me here, you gotta wake up so I can introduce you to the crew.  They’re ready to celebrate any time you show up and I can’t let you miss a party like this.  These guys know how to do it right.”

His words were no different than any others since he’d woken up and found Jensen still asleep.  There was no sign of recognition or wakefulness from Jensen.  Jared leaned in and kissed Jensen softly before settling his head back on his lover’s shoulder.  “It’s alright Jensen.  You do what you have to inside your head and then you come back to me.  You might need a bigger house in there.  I think the entire shuttle crew is ready to pack up and marry you after you charged in and saved me.”

Jared sighed, feeling a suddenly heaviness in his eyelids even though he’d only just woken a few hours before.  “Never gonna win an argument ever again.  Can’t complain about not taking out the trash or missing a date.  You’ll just say ‘hey Jared, remember that time you were stupid and went on a mission and I ported across the whole galaxy to save you?’ and I’ll be putty in your hands.”

As he fell asleep, he thought he felt a slight bit of smugness from Jensen, but he was too far gone to realize it was real and not just his own wishful imaginings.

 

 

The next time Jared woke, it was to green eyes staring down at him.  Before Jared could speak, Jensen was lying on top of him, lips sweetly pressed to Jared’s.  He wanted to yell or scream or cry but he was engulfed in Jensen’s emotions.  There was nothing but love and affection and the deep seeded need to be with Jared.  Jared was more than happy to oblige because he wasn’t letting Jensen out of his sight. 

He pressed up until he could push Jensen onto his back and stared down at him.  “What were you thinking?”  Jared asked softly.  He’d heard from the others over the last few days about the danger Jensen had put himself in.  He could have been too tired and missed the location.  He could have miscalculated - not likely Gen had added with a smile - and landed in space instead.  He could have just lost himself in the generators or taken on too much power.  Or he could have been too late, landing just in time to die with Jared.  Jared couldn’t live with the idea of it but when he looked in Jensen’s eyes he knew his lover was thinking the exact same thing. What’s more was that he realized Jensen had been thinking it since Jared had announced the mission.

“You promised to come home,” Jensen’s voice was just as soft as Jared’s, almost a whisper and there was the slightest feel of accusation behind it but Jared just leaned over and kissed him again. 

“I’m home now,” he said as Jensen’s hand came up his neck and held him there, foreheads pressed together.

“I can’t think without you Jared.”

Jared felt it again, the press of Jensen’s love and the overwhelming emotions that were emanating from him.  There were times when Jared wanted to push it all away for fear of losing himself in the feelings of others, but now even the motion of Jensen’s brain was comforting and he allowed himself to be consumed by it.

“Don’t have to think now,” Jared replied before he pulled their lips back together.  It couldn’t be what he wanted – what they both really needed – not with Jensen still recovering but he let his weight rest against Jensen as if he could ground them both together. 

When Jared felt Jensen’s strength starting to give way, he pulled back and called for Able.  He had a lover to nurse back to health and he wasn’t going to let Jensen talk him out of it, no matter how dirty his promises got.

 

 

Jensen was on bed rest for another two days and Jared was on the verge of asking if Jake would sedate him.  The second in command had come by twice already to ask if Jensen would stop making changes to the on board computers because it was hampering their ability to work with the programming that the others used.  Jensen offered to rewrite that also, but he was still supposed to be resting so Able vetoed it before he could be taken up on it.  Jared had no doubt that by the time they got back to the station the ship, as well as its software, would be upgraded to Jensen’s standards of performance. 

Jensen had seemed suspicious of Mark until he confirmed that he wasn’t the captain and then he’d relaxed.  Jensen got along well with Mark and after he left, Jared had talked to him about the people he’d gotten to know while they were travelling.  Jensen talked about the station and about the experiment with Doc Hodge that helped Jensen realize he could siphon his power from the computers. 

Still, on the evening of the third day when Able gave Jensen the okay to leave his room, Jared was happy enough to help him out.  He was still physically weak so Jared kept close to him, ready to help him if another wave of vertigo hit or if his legs gave out. 

When they entered the mess hall, Jared was surprised to find the crew of the shuttle and the outpost all waiting for them.  The hall was decorated in streamers and Able and Kelly were grinning like idiots as Jared and Jensen walked in.

“Do you always celebrate dinner this way?” Jensen had asked into the silence.  The room erupted into laughter and movement as Jensen and Jared were led to a table.  It looked like whatever contraband hadn’t been used during Kelly’s impromptu engagement party had been brought out for them.  The food was good and drinks were passed around except for those who were still currently on duty.  Jensen mostly ate and listened to the others tease back and forth.  It wasn’t until they’d finished the food off that the captain came in and the room went quiet when he did. 

“Mr. Ackles, it’s an honor to have you aboard,” Mitch said as he offered Jensen his hand.

Jensen stood and moved around the table but there was something off about Jensen’s emotions.  There was the steady, blinding presence that was Jensen’s love for him, but something was creeping up under that and it was hard to read. 

“Jensen?”

He barely had his name out before Jensen pulled his fist back and hit the captain.  Mitch took the hit and everyone moved into action, getting between them but Jensen wasn’t trying to get back at him again and the captain wasn’t trying to get away. 

“Stand down!” Mark yelled to Kelly and Able who had Jensen by the arm.  Lehne and Beaver were watching the captain but he was nodding at Jensen and Jared had no idea what he was feeling from Jensen.

Silence filled the room again and Jensen let out a deep breath when Jared was able to get behind him and place a hand on his lower back.  “Jensen?”

“You said you’d keep him safe.”

Mitch nodded again.  “I’m sorry.  I tried.  He’s a bit shady for a psychologist.  Pretty damn sneaky too.”

Jared let out a deep breath as he felt the smug acceptance from Jensen.  “Yeah, he is.”  Jensen offered his hand to the captain then and to Jared’s surprise Mitch took it with a smile. 

“I’m damn glad you found a way to get him back.”

Jensen stared over his shoulder at Jared and his smile was breathtaking.  “Not much of a choice.  I wasn’t going to let him go without me.  It was come home safe, or be lost together.  It’s the only way the world makes sense.”

Jared pulled him close, ignoring the others around them, and kissed Jensen deeply. He ignored the awes of the younger crowd and the amusement of the older members of the crew and allowed himself to focus on Jensen.  He didn’t know how long he stayed that way, but in the end Able was the one that pushed them out of the mess hall and towards their room.

“Get out of here before we have another scene on our hands!”

Jared was more than happy to have Jensen to himself now, even if he was still weak.  As much as the last few days had been hard, now that Jensen had a clear bill of health he had plenty of ideas on how to spend the time.  He barely had the door to his quarters closed before he had Jensen pushed back against it. 

“Jensen,” he whispered against the warm skin at the base of his neck.  “Missed you,” he confessed as he let his hand slide down from Jensen’s neck to his waist.  His fingers played at the hem of Jensen’s shirt and he could feel the way Jensen’s heart beat sped up where their chests were pressed together. 

Jensen’s hand came up to pull Jared’s face towards his until they were kissing again.  Jared was lost in the feel of Jensen but his lover’s hands were pulling at Jared’s clothes, slowly pulling him out of his shirt.  Jared needed to feel Jensen underneath him then and he slid his fingers under Jensen’s shirt, pulling it up as he went. 

It was all the encouragement Jensen needed and they were soon stripping each other out of their clothes.  The bed wasn’t as comfortable as the one they shared back home on Vortex, but when Jared pushed Jensen back onto the mattress, it felt like heaven. 

Jared took his time as he worked his way down Jensen’s body, letting his hands roam his lover’s skin before he followed with his lips.  He paid extra attention to the sensitive spots Jensen had just above his hip bone and then moved lower to take his cock into his mouth.  Jensen moaned under him and Jared worked his way down and back up until his lover was thrusting up into him.  Jared knew they wouldn’t last long, not with Jensen’s physical strength depleted and their desperate need for one another.  Jared had released any walls he had between himself and Jensen and his lover’s emotions were wrapping around Jared until he felt everything as his own. 

He opened Jensen up on his fingers then, as quick as he could without pushing Jensen too hard.  When he was finally pressing inside his lover, he let out a shaky breath that was followed quickly by Jensen’s.  “Missed you,” Jensen whispered into Jared’s neck and Jared turned his head to keep him from saying anything else.  They were together again and that was all that mattered. 

He wrapped his fingers around Jensen’s cock and began stroking him but it didn’t take long before they were both too worked up to hold off any longer.  Jared couldn’t remember why he would want to with Jensen’s love pouring across their bond and when Jensen’s orgasm hit, he let it pull them both over. 

“By the heavens, Jensen,” he whispered as he slowly pulled away from Jensen’s body.  As much as he wanted to stay inside his lover forever, he didn’t want to hurt Jensen and he knew he’d need to sleep again.  “Love you so much.”

Jensen pushed Jared onto his back before settling against his chest.  He pressed a kiss to the underside of Jared’s jaw before he set his head down and closed his eyes.  “Never leaving the station without me, right?”

Jared smiled.  “Goes both ways.  You gave me a heart attack showing up the way you did and then not waking up after.”

Jensen hummed like it was all okay and Jared couldn’t help but think that now they were together, it actually was.

 

 

The shuttle stopped at the closest outpost to make the repairs that they’d been unable to on the way to outpost 72.  It had taken the shuttle three weeks to get there while Jensen told them all smugly that he’d been able to travel much faster on his own. 

Although Jensen was supposed to be taking it easy, he spent a good deal of his time with his head in the computer or talking to the other scientists on board the shuttle.  Jared spent the entire time at his side and Jensen made a point of keep Jared’s hand in his.  In fact, whenever Jared so much as scooted away, Jensen scowled at him until they were sitting so close Jared was practically in Jensen’s lap.  And on occasion, when they were in the mess late at night, Jensen would land right in Jared’s lap and stay there while he was holding court there in the mess hall. 

Jensen’s intelligence and dry sense of humor won the shuttle and outpost crews over almost as fast as his outrageous rescue of Jared had.  Word of Jensen’s success had been sent ahead to the others, but from the outpost they would be able to send a message home.  They had already received messages from Alona and Jeff, Misha, and Dr. Hodge, congratulating Jensen and wishing them a safe trip home.

It was their turn now and Jensen and Jared stood in front of the computer display.  Jared had wanted to send a long message, but in the end Jensen had his way.  The message Jensen wanted to send was short and simple and said everything they needed to.  When Jensen turned the relay on, Jared smiled at their friends. 

“We made it safely everyone.  Thank you.” 

He was standing behind Jensen, with one arm wrapped over his shoulder and Jensen looked up at him, reaching over to put his hand on Jared’s heart for a moment.  It wasn’t what they’d talked about and Jared lost himself in the brilliance of Jensen’s smile for a moment before Jensen looked back to the relay. 

“Vortex.”  It sounded official when Jensen said it, but then he was smiling at the relay with the same smile he’d just given Jared.  “Friends, we’re coming home.”

 

 

 

 


End file.
